82 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



March, 1909 



Frost must be kept out! Use mats to cover 

 the frames and shutters on top so snow can be 

 removed easily 



Drip grooves had best be provided on the 

 upper part of the rafters under the sash, 

 to carry off the condensation moisture, 

 which otherwise falls back on the plants, 

 often to their injury. 



If you want a sub-frame to hold the man- 

 ure (making it a hotbed), dig out about three 

 feet deep all around, and set a 2 x 4 post in 

 each corner and nail your boards to it. Bet- 

 ter have them not less than two inches thick 

 if you want strength and endurance. 



The most substantial construction, that 

 will last practically for all time, is made with 

 masonry walls covered on top with a cast- 

 iron capping to which T iron rafters are 

 bolted for supporting the sash. Moreover, 



it is more nearly frost proof. By making it 

 five or six feet deep, it can be used as an ad- 

 mirable storage pit for hydrangeas, palms, 

 semi-hardy roses, bulbs, azaleas, and so on. 

 Such a frame or pit, complete, may cost 

 nearly two hundred dollars for five sash, in- 

 cluding masonry and excavating. 



If at any time you want to temporarily 

 convert it into a coldframe or hotbed, all 

 you need do is put in a false bottom sixteen 

 inches from the ground line if for a cold- 

 frame, and three feet for the hotbed. 



This bottom can easily be arranged by 

 placing 2x4 inch hemlock joist along the 

 sides of the frame and resting on legs made of 

 the same material. It is better to brace the 

 legs apart by nailing on light strips. (I use 

 shingle lath.) Then all you have to do is 

 get your loose boards, place them crosswise 

 on the frame work, and it is ready for put- 

 ting in the soil. Hemlock boards 1 J x 10 in. 

 will answer, but be sure to saw them a little 

 short and also leave at least a half inch be- 

 tween the boards in laying, so they can swell 

 without twisting out of shape. 



When the frame is again wanted for 

 storage, and more head room is required, 

 you have but to remove the boards — and 

 all is in shape again. 



All modern improvements, including masonry 

 walls and heating pipe. The clear space at back 

 is a great convenience, and receives snow, etc., 

 from the house 



Even in the construction of the sash there 

 are points to be remembered. The ordi- 

 nary open mortise will endure less than half 

 the term of years of the sunk style, where 

 the mortise does not go clear through. 

 Sash of the latter type in use eighteen years 

 are sound and watertight to-day. Again 

 look at the strengthening cross-piece. If 

 of wood, cut into the rafters and fastened 

 by nail or dowel, there is an evident weak- 

 ness at the very centre; but a slender iron 

 rod run through adds strength, and be- 

 sides cannot cast any appreciable shade on 

 the plants — a small factor ; one not to 

 be ignored, however, in the dullest months 

 of the year. 



Getting Quality in the Egg-plant— By e. d. Darlington 



IF YOU DO NOT GROW THIS VEGETABLE WITH REGARD TO ITS TROPICAL NATURE YOU DO NOT 

 KNOW WHAT DELICACY MEANS — IT CAN BE GROWN TILL FROST IF STARTED PROPERLY 



TO MY thinking the fruit of the egg- 

 plant is one of the most delightful 

 products of the well-supplied garden. The 

 Italian name of " delicatesse " seems to be 

 most appropriate. Freshly gathered fruit, 

 grown and developed in warm sunshine 

 and properly cooked, surpasses in deli- 

 cacy and flavor anything in the line of fried 

 young squashes or simlins. But it is 

 essentially a hot-climate plant, and can only 

 be had in perfection when its nature is un- 

 derstood and the proper conditions given. 

 These are a rich, mellow, deep, warm soil 

 and an adequate supply of water. The 

 plants must be started in heat, and never 

 allowed to suffer a check. Better, indeed, 

 defer planting a few days than to run the 

 risk of shock by chills. Since it is such a 

 lover of warmth, and must be kept in quick, 

 strong growth from the start, a moderately 

 warm greenhouse or a hotbed is an essential 

 for starting the plants in a northern climate. 



By starting the seeds in February or the 

 first part of March, you should have fruits 

 for use by the last of July, and the plants 

 should continue to bear until killed by freez- 

 ing in the fall. 



Plant the seeds thinly in rich compost. 

 The bed or greenhouse where the seed is 

 sown should have a temperature of about 

 60 degrees at night. The hotbed should be 

 covered with mats or old carpet at night 

 during severe cold weather. In sowing the 

 seed in a greenhouse I use shallow boxes or 



flats about three inches deep, filled with a 

 very rich, light compost, such as old manure 

 from a hotbed passed through an ordinary 

 coal sieve. This makes a spongy, loose seed- 

 bed that holds moisture and promotes quick 

 growth. As soon as the plants show one or 

 two true leaves, transplant them to flower- 

 pots three inches in diameter, or to the hot- 



Black Beauty, probably the best variety for the 

 amateur. Dark color, fairly early and productive 



bed, setting them six inches apart, so that 

 they will have plenty of room in which to 

 grow. In potting, use the same rich com- 

 post as for the seed-box; it is almost impos- 

 sible to overfeed if the manure is thoroughly 

 rotted. When planted in the three-inch 

 pots it will probably be necessary to repot 

 them to larger pots or boxes before they 

 can be planted out. 



Do not allow the young plants to suffer 

 any check in growth by becoming root-bound 

 or from the soil becoming too dry, as the 

 stem or stalk will become hardened and the 

 plants dwarfed in growth. Give each plant 

 plenty of room, and keep the soil constantly 

 moist, but not muddy from over watering. 

 If grown in a hotbed the surface of the soil 

 between the young plants must be stirred 

 frequently, both to admit air to the roots and 

 to enable it to dry out quickly. Neglecting 

 this is frequently the cause of young 

 seedlings rotting in the seed-bed or boxes, 

 as a hard crust forms on the top of the soil 

 and it is impossible to properly judge of 

 the condition of moisture underneath. 



PLANTING IN THE GARDEN 



Do not set out the plants in the open ground 

 until the nights become quite warm and the 

 trees are fully in leaf. For the average fam- 

 ily a dozen well-grown plants should give 

 a good supply of fruits, but I like to set fifty 

 or sixty plants each season; the rows 

 three feet apart, in the sunniest place in the 



