184 Gardening 
Fic. 108. Planting the seeds and marking the rows. Here the seeds are be- 
ing planted directly in the soil of the hotbed, but usually it is better to plant 
them in flats and set the flats in the hotbed. 
a pit hotbed. Manure is packed in the frame, and sand 
added as in the pit hotbed. If kept well banked, the 
surface hotbed is very satisfactory. 
Management of the hotbed. To use a hotbed success- 
fully, the amount of moisture and the temperature within 
it must be properly regulated. Water should always be 
applied in a fine spray from a sprinkling can or a hose. 
The soil in the flats should never become dry, but too 
much water is to be avoided. On cool, cloudy days very 
little or even no water is needed. On bright, sunny days 
the flats should be watered in the early forenoon and the 
bed ventilated (unless the air outside is very cold) so 
that the leaves of the plants will become dry before night. 
Ventilation also is needed to regulate the temperature. 
On warm, sunshiny days the hotbeds may become too 
warm in the middle of the day. To reduce the warmth, 
raise one edge of the sash on the side away from the wind 
and place under it a block of wood or a brick to hold 
