Heating with Manure 



349 



in thickness. By this means the mass is easily made 

 uniform. 



Only by experience can one learn what is the proper 

 body or texture of good hotbed manure. That with 

 too much straw, and which therefore soon parts with its 

 heat, springs up quickly when the pressure of the feet 

 is removed. Manure with too little straw, and which 

 therefore does not heat well or spends its heat quickly, 

 packs down into a soggy mass underneath the feet. When 



216. A manure-heated hotbed. 



the manure has sufficient litter, it gives a springy feeling 

 to the feet as a person walks over it, but does not fluiS up 

 when the pressure is removed. 



The quantity of manure to be used depends (1) on 

 its quality; (2) the season in which the hotbed is made; 

 (3) the kind of plants; (4) the skill of the operator in 

 managing the bed. Careless watering, by means of which 

 the manure is kept soaked, will stop the heat in any hot- 

 bed. The earlier the bed is made, the larger should be 



