SOLANACEOUS CROP PROJECTS 45 



Horse manure is used almost exclusively for the making of hot- 

 beds. It should be fresh and in the proportion of about two 

 parts of solid excrement to one part of straw litter. (Shavings 

 manure is unsatisfactory because it does not ferment rapidly 

 enough.) The horse manure should be kept under cover in a square 

 compact pile about 4 feet high, until heating or fermentation is well 

 started. The piles should be turned and restacked when the 

 fermentation is well under way and perhaps turned the second 

 time before the manure is placed in the pit. Several days to a 

 week may be required to prepare the manure properly for the pit. 

 If it is too dry to heat satisfactorily, a few sprinkling cans of hot 

 water may be added to advantage. The mistake should not be 

 made of filling the pit until practically the entire mass of manure 

 is thoroughly hot. 



It is important to tramp and pack the manure as it is forked 

 into the pit. The manure will settle several inches and allowance 

 should be made for this. If the seed is to be sown without the use 

 of flats or plant boxes, the manure should be covered with 4 to 6 

 inches of good soil, but 2 inches will be sufficient if flats are em- 

 ployed. Some growers do not use any soil on the manure, if the 

 plants are started in boxes, but place the boxes directly on top of 

 the manure. The frame of the hotbed should be kept banked to 

 the top with strawy horse manure. 



1. What are the advantages of a hotbed ? 



W-VG : 103. L : 60. C : 57. 



2. Where should the hotbed be located? W-VG : 104. 



3. What should be the depth of the hotbed pit ? When should 



it be dug ? 

 W-VG: 105. Tra: 51. 



