50 



THE AMERICAN GARDENER. 



[Chap. 



light, or two lights, to let in a little of the cold. 

 For, always bear in mind, that, when plants, of 

 whatever kind, be drawn up, they are nearly spoiled. 



92. When the Sun comes upon the glass, it soon 

 augments the heat ; and the air must be given im- 

 mediately if possible, so as to keep down the heat. 

 Changes are very sud»den in March, April, and 

 May ; and, therefore, somebody should always be 

 at hand to attend to the hot-bed. But, if the mas- 

 ter be from home, there is, surely, some man ; or, 

 at any rate, a wife, a son, or a daughter. The la- 

 bour is nothing, the trouble very little indeed, and 

 all that is v/anted is a small portion of care. 



93. It may happen that the bed will get too cool. 

 It may lose its heat sooner than you could wish, 

 especially if you use it for Cucumber and Melon- 

 plants after you have used it for things that you 

 want earlier ; and, I shall show, that this may be 

 very useful in certain cases. Now, if the heat be 



» too much diminished, you may easily restore it, 

 thus : make a little narrow hot-bed, a foot and a 

 half wide, all round the bed. Put the dung together 

 as before ; place it close to the bed ; beat it well ; 

 and build it up, all round, as high as the top of the 

 Frame. This is called lining ; and it will give the 

 bed nearly as much heat as it had at first. If you 

 do not want so much heat, line only the hack of the 

 bed ; or the back and the two ends. In short, take 

 as much heat as you may want. 



94. Before I dismiss the subject of hot-beds, I 

 must notice, that there are other contrivances than 

 frames resorted to in this kind of garden work. A 

 frame is, as we here see, a wooden construction, 

 for lights of glass to be placed on. For smaller 

 concerns there are very convenient things, called 

 hand-lights^ or hand-glasses, A hand-glass is a 



