THE COUNTRY HOME [CHAPTER 
gen. The application of compost containing a 
good deal of coal ashes will improve the mechani- 
cal condition of the soil. 
The hotbed is a simple device which sooner or 
later you must have after making a home in the 
country. The essentials are nothing more than a 
long and rather narrow box, in which you secure 
bottom heat, and over which you place a sash of 
glass. Nowadays these are generally built directly 
upon the ground. Some of them are half in the 
ground, and half out. It is thought by the best 
horticulturists that the pit should be quite shallow, 
to prevent the heat being drawn from the manure 
into the cold earth. The heat is supplied by the 
fermentation of horse manure. This manure 
should be used when fresh, with about half the 
quantity of straw or litter. Pile it four or five feet 
high, with the top level. To hasten fermentation 
you may sprinkle it with hot water. Turn the heap 
occasionally, to secure a more uniform ferment. 
When this is secured build your bed for seed. The 
wall around this bed may be either plank or brick. 
It must be placed on a slope where the drainage will 
be perfect. Spread in the bottom a little coarse 
stuff, and upon this a couple of feet of manure. 
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