78 Home Vegetable Gardening 



the front should be at least twenty-four inches high, 

 part of which — not more than half — may be below 

 the ground level. The 2 x 12 in. planks, when used, 

 are handled as follows : stakes are driven in to 

 support the back plank some two or three inches 

 above the ground', — which should, of course, be 

 level. The front plank is sunk two or three inches 

 into the ground and held upright by stakes on the 

 outside, nailed on. Remove enough dirt from inside 

 the frame to bank up the planks about halfway on 

 the outside. When this banking has frozen to a 

 depth of two or three inches, cover with rough ma- 

 nure or litter to keep frost from striking through. 

 The manure for heating should be prepared as above 

 and put in to the depth of a foot, trodden down, 

 first removing four to six inches of soil to be put 

 back on top of the manure, — a cord of the latter, in 

 this case, serv^ing seven sashes. The vegetable to be 

 grown, and the season and climate, will determine 

 the depth of manure required — it will be from one to 

 two feet, — the latter depth seldom being necessary. 



It must not be overlooked that this manure, when 

 spent for heating purposes, is still as good as ever to 

 enrich the garden, so that the expense of putting it 

 in and removing it from the frames is all that you 

 can fairly charge up against your experiment with 

 hotbeds, if you are interested to know whether they 

 really pay. 



