20 



mCSAfiD I'RO'fSCHER's ALMa1?AC AND GARCEI? MANttAL 



THE HOT By^D 



Owing to the open winters in the South, hot beds are not so much used as in 

 the Nortli, except to raise such tender plants as Egg-Plants, Tomatoes and Pep- 

 pers. There is little forcing of vegetables done here, except as regards Cucumbers 

 and Lettuce ; and, if we do not have anj^ hard frosts, the latter does better in the 

 open ground than under glass. To make a hot bed is a ver}' simple thing. Any 

 one who has the use of tools can make the wooden frame; the sashes may be ob- 

 tained from any sash factory. I consider a woo len frame from live to six feet wide 

 and ten feet six inches long a very good size. It should be at least six inches higher 

 at the back than in the front, and covered by three sashes 3|x5 feet. The manure 

 ought not to be over one month old ; it should be thrown together in a heap, and 

 when commencing to heat, be worked over with a fork, and all the long and short 

 manure evenly mixed. In this State the ground is generally low, and to retain the 

 heat of the manure for a longer time it is best to put the manure on top of the 

 ground— that is, make a bank two feet longer and two feet wider than the frame. 

 Keep the edges straight and the corners firm ; when thrown up about eighteen inches 

 trample the manure down to six or eight inches, then put on another layer of eigh- 

 teen inches and trample down again ; place thereon the frame and sash, and fill in 

 six inches of good earth. After about five days stir the ground to kill the weeds 

 which may have come up, then sow the. seeds. In lower Louisiana the ground is 

 too wet to dig out eighteen inches deep, throw in the manure and trample down as 

 recommended in the North ; by a few hard rains, such as we frequently have in 

 winter, the manure would become so soaked beneath the ground that the heat 

 would be gone. Another advantage, when the frame is put above the ground, is, 

 that it will go down with the manure gradually, and there remains always the same 

 space between the glass and the ground. If the ground is dug out and the manure 

 put into the frame, the ground will sink down so low, after a short time, that the sun 

 will have little effect upon it, anil plants will become spindly. 



