42 



THE AMERICAN GARDENER. [Chap. 



of the bed well beaten ; or else they will be more 

 hollow, and will sink more, than the re&t, and then 

 the earth on the bed will crack in the middle. Beat 

 them w^ell ; keep them well up as you proceed ; 

 beat well the sides of the bed, as it goes on rising-. 

 Comb the sides frequently down w4th the spanes of 

 the fork. And, in short, make the sides upright, 

 and smooth and neat as a w^all. As you proceed, 

 measure the height frequently ; in the different 

 parts of the bed, to see that you are keeping the 

 height every where the same. At last, shovel and 

 sweep up all the short earthy stuff round the bed 

 and where your dung-heap was, and lay it very 

 smoothly on the top of the bed ; and make all as 

 smooth and as level as a die with the back of your 

 shovel. 



75. Thus the bed is made. Then put on the 

 Frame, and fix it nicely. Then put the Lights upon 

 the Frame. If you finish your bed by noon, the 

 heat will begin to rise by the next morning ; and, 

 by the noon of the second day after the bed is 

 made, the heat will be up. Poke your finger as 

 deep as you can into the middle of the bed, when 

 you have taken off one of the Lights. If the heat 

 -be so great as to burn your finger ; that is to say, 

 if you cannot endure the heat ; then it is too great 

 to receive the earth ; but, if not, OTi the earth all 

 over the bed. If the heat be too great, give the bed 

 a little air, and wait till a little of the heat be 

 gone off. 



76. The earth should be dry ; not like dust ; but, 

 not wet, I made provision for my bed, by putting 

 earth in my cellar, in November. It is not much 

 that is wanted. The bed is to be covered all over, 



. about six inches deep. When the earth has been 

 on twenty-four hours, take off the lights, and stir 



