The Making and Care of Hotbeds and Cold Frames 



The cold frame and hotbed are worthy of much wider attention than they 

 now enjoy. With their aid the autumn season can be prolonged and the spring 

 season hastened. They will yield herbs and salads in variety in early spring and 

 hasten the starting of summer crops. To the flower lover they are a real 

 necessity for the carrying of many things through the winter, and few people 

 indeed have ever fully developed the possibilities of pleasure possessed by an 

 ordinary glass-covered frame. 



COLD FRAMES. 



The function of a cold frame is to ward off cold winds, to keep 

 the ground clear of snow, and in the spring to increase the feeble 

 heat of the slanting sunbeams, and thus foster plant growth. 



The construction of the cold frame is very simple. The back 

 board is usually twelve inches and the front eight inches wide. 

 The two are connected by a tapered board twelve inches wide 

 at one end and eight inches at the other. Standard sash are 

 three by six (3x6) feet, and it takes a box of six by eight (6x8) 

 inch glass to glaze three sash. We can furnish sash at $1.50 

 each unglazed, or §3.25 each glazed. The framework can be 

 readily made by a local carpenter or any one handy with tools; 

 and when complete the frame is set in a sheltered, well-drained 

 position, usually near the house. 



Mr. William Falconer, one of the foremost practical gardeners 

 in the country, has written for us the following short article on 

 raising seeds in a cold frame; 



" A cold frame is simply a frame having sash, but no other 

 means of heating. Fill 



HOTBEDS. 



the frame with soil to 

 within 6 in deep in front 

 and 8 in. or 9 in. at bai k ; 

 makeshallow drills, 3 jn. 

 or 4 in. apart, acros> the 

 face of the soil in the 

 frame, and in these sow 

 the seeds, covering 

 them thinly and tamp- 

 ing them gently; then 



water moderately through a fine rose. Now put on the sash, 

 and keep all snug and warm until the seedlings appear, when 

 the Sashes should be tilted up during the day to admit fresh air 

 freely and make the plants sturdy. As the seedlings wax in 

 strength, remove the sash both day and night, in fine weather, 

 but replace it as a protection against wet, muggy or cold weather. 

 As soon as the plants are big enough, transplant them into the 

 open garden. In sowing in a cold frame, carefully observe that 

 the kinds of plants are of somewhat the same nature, strength 

 and time of germinating. When this is not the case, or there is 

 any uncertainty about it, better sow in pots, pans or flats, and 

 set these close together in the frame; as the seedlings appear 

 in the pots or flats, remo^ these to the lightest, sunniest place 

 in the frame, and the ungerminated ones keep by themselves. 

 Afterwards as regards inuring to weather, pricking off and finally 

 transplanting, treat as directed above in the manner of seed sown 

 in the frame." 



A hotbed is a cold frame placed upon a quantity of fermenting 

 manure. The hotbed is usually made ready in February or 

 March in the latitude of Philadelphia. In the preparation of 

 the manure it is best to collect the requisite amount from the 

 horse stable, and make it into a compact heap, watering it if 

 dry. In a few days active fermentation will be in progress, 

 when the heap should be turned, watering again if necessary, 

 shaking out the lumps. The aim is to induce an active and 

 uniform fermentation of the whole mass, and to have it continue 

 for some time after the soil is placed on it. 



Select a well-drained spot, and make the pile of manure eight 

 or nine feet wide by whatever length is necessary, with a depth 

 of fifteen to eighteen inches; or a foot of soil may be dug out 

 and filled in with manure, well tramped down. Place the 

 frame on it. Then put three or four inches of good soil uni- 

 formly over the surface. Some manure or soil can be thrown 

 up against the outer boards, which will help to hold the heat, 



Put on the sash and 

 i . i l J 



- srr— — jrr— -•- —3 rr— -i 



r\ 



keep tight for three or 

 four days. There 

 should be a thermom- 

 eter kept in the hot- 

 bed, and when the 

 temperature falls to 75 

 degrees seed may be 

 sown with safety. The 



Fkamk to Carry Sash op Hotbfd or Cold Frame as Illustratfd in Pulletin No. 195, temperature in a hot- 



Cokbett, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Department op Agriculture. ■ ■ ■ , 1 , 1 , 



bed should not be al- 

 lowed to go above 70 degrees in the day, nor below 50 at night. 

 Mr. Wm. Falconer writes the following for us regarding hotbeds: 

 " A hotbed is like a cold frame, except that it is heated with a 

 considerable depth of hot manure under the soil. Seeds may 

 be sown in it in the same way as specified in the case of a cold 

 frame, but it is safer for the amateur to sow in pots, pans or flats 

 and set these in the hotbed than to sow in the earth bed of the 

 hotbed. While a hotbed is new it is well to always keep a little 

 chink of ventilation on to allow the discharge of "steam" 

 or ammonia; if not, a damp mould will spread over the seed- 

 pots or the seedlings will rot off. Keep the sprouted seeds by 

 themselves, and the pots of unsprouted ones by themselves, and 

 give increased light and ventilation to the former. As regards 

 hardening off and transplanting, treat as for cold frames, A 

 hotbed should be covered overhead with straw mats or carpet 

 at night in cold weather to conserve the heat, but this covering 

 should be removed in the daytime." 



\\ nil a hotbed the amateur can start 

 almost any kind of vegetable or flower 

 seed. By sowing such vegetables as Egg 

 Plant, Pepper, Tomatoes, etc., and such 

 flower seeds as Heliotrope, Scarlet Sage, 

 Vinca, Verbenas, etc., along in March, it is 

 possible to have nice stocky plants ready to 

 set out as soon as the weather conditions 

 are favorable, insuring early returns from 



f, „ „ T .. „ _ the vegetables and a long season of bloom 



Cross-section op a I emporary Hotbed as Illustrated in Bulletin No. 195, Corbbtt, » ° 



Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dlpt. of Agriculture. from the flowers. 



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