Planning: for Your Hotbed t.sheward 



FOR growing early vegetables and 

 starting seedlings to give plants for the 

 summer garden the hotbed (Fig. i) 

 is an absolute necessity. It should 

 be made up about the third week in February or 

 the beginning of March but the preparation 

 must be made before. 



The first thing to do is to collect fresh strawy 

 horse manure that will heat up well. Turn it 

 every day for three days, mixing in about one 

 third leaves when turning. The quantity re- 

 quired depends upon the number of sashes to be 

 made up, one load to a sash is sufficient. 



When the manure is well mixed with the leaves 

 and ready for use, mark out the place where the 

 frames are to stand (facing south with some 

 kind of shelter on the north if possible), and place 

 the manure on the ground to the depth of two 

 feet and one foot wider than the frames on each 

 side. Throw on the manure in layers, six inches 

 thick at a time. Tread it in and keep adding 

 more manure until the mass is two feet thick. 

 Place the frames and add more manure, banking 

 up the sides (Fig. 2). Then put another foot of 

 manure inside the frame. 



The next operation is to place about six or eight 

 inches of prepared soil over the manure after 

 passing it through a one-half inch sieve, the 

 rough material going below and the fine soil 

 remaining on top. The completed hotbed is 

 then ready for use. 



Another method (Fig. _j) of making a hotbed 

 is by taking out two feet of earth from the inside 

 of the frame and filling it up w T ith manure. When 

 it is completed, water it and put the sash in 

 place. If the bed gets too hot, tilt the sash a 

 few inches in the daytime but close them about 

 three o'clock in the afternoon. 



If boxes or flats are to be used for sowing the 



seed, fill, water, and put them in the hotbed until 

 required. By doing this the drainage of the 

 boxes will be settled and the soil will be in the 

 right condition for sowing the seed. A box eigh- 

 teen inches long, one foot wide and three inches 

 deep is a useful size and not too heavy. Make 

 holes for drainage (Fig. 8) in the bottom of the 

 box. Place "crocks" or broken pots over the 

 holes (Fig. 10) or if space has been left in the 

 bottom for drainage, the crocks can be placed as 

 shown at (Fig. p). Over the crocks place the 

 siftings (Figs. II, 16, iq) from the potting soil 

 and, over this, fine prepared soil that has been 

 passed through a one quarter inch sieve. 



As a general rule, rather poor or sandy soil is 

 used for sowing seed, the better soil being saved 

 for transplanting. Plain loam or old potting 

 soil, well sifted, is good for most seeds; but some 

 kinds such as Begonias, Calceolarias, Celery, etc., 

 like a mixture of one third leaf soil or very old 

 manure to two thirds loam. In filling the boxes 

 press the soil in firmly and level it with a piece of 

 flat, smooth board (Fig. 20) with a handle fixed 

 to it. Water and stand to drain for a day or 

 two before sowing the seed. Sow the seed (Fig. 

 12), cover lightly with fine soil and press the 

 surface down gently with the piece of board. 

 Then cover the box with a sheet of glass (Fig. 13) 

 and over this a sheet of paper until germination 

 takes place. In sowing the seed the amount 

 of covering depends upon the size of the seed. 

 Cover large seed such as Cannas or Castor bean 

 one quarter inch deep. Soak in water before 

 sowing. Fine seeds like Begonia, Lobelia, and 

 Calceolaria need no covering; or, if any, just a 

 fine sprinkling of sand. 



The method of spacing large seeds is shown in 

 (Fig. 75). Space tomato seed in this manner 

 if only a small quantity is sown. The seedlings 



do not need transplanting so soon and are much 

 stronger than if crowded together. As soon as 

 the seed germinates tilt the glass (Fig. 14) for 

 a day or two and then remove. When boxes of 

 seedlings are covered with glass keep the glass 

 clear of moisture by wiping it daily. Of course, 

 all kinds of seed do not need glass over the 

 boxes but Celery, Begonias, etc., germinate 

 better if covered. 



In sowing very fine seed, pans (Fig. 16) are 

 best, especially for Begonia seed. Cover the 

 pan with a sheet of glass (Fig. 17) and lay a piece 

 of paper on the top. Plunge the pan in the 

 hotbed (Fig. 18). Sow English frame cucumbers 

 in three pots (Fig. iq) and plunge in the hotbed 

 (Fig. 18). Label seedlings (Fig. 21). To bring 

 the seedlings nearer the light raise the box up 

 on pots (Fig. 2). 



If the hotbed is put up to raise early vegetables 

 the seed is sown directly on to the bed. The 

 best soil for this purpose is hotbed manure well 

 broken up and passed through a one quarter inch 

 sieve, put on to the depth of six or eight inches. 



A CROPPING "SYSTEM" 



A good system for close cropping is to plant out 

 lettuce (Grand Rapids) about six inches apart 

 (Fig. 4) and between the rows sow carrots of an 

 early forcing. Plant lettuce (L Fig. 4) and 

 radishes (R) Early Rose forcing, with carrots 

 (C) between. When the radishes (R Fig. 5) 

 are ready for use, the carrots (C) have room to 

 develop; and also the lettuce (L Fig. 6) is ready 

 for cutting in time for the development of the 

 carrots (C). Plant cauliflower between the 

 carrots so that when the carrots are pulled the 

 cauliflower can use all the space, (Fig. 7 C A). 

 Plant melons for a summer crop after the cauli- 

 flower has matured. 



