HO IV TO MAKE A HOTBED. 



5 



mention for ornamental planting is our native garland- 

 flowering crab [Pyriis malus var. coronaria odorata). The 

 great charm of this species is its large, deliciously fra- 

 grant, blush-colored flowers, which appear in handsome 

 loose corymbs of five to ten blooms each. The fruit 

 lacks the attractiveness of the Hyslop crab, being yel- 

 low, hard and sour ; but the delightful flowers more 

 than compensate. The tree in its wild state grows along 

 the borders of woods, and reaches a height of ten feet 

 and upwards, with spreading branches. 



The Influence OF Evergreens in Winter. — Besides 

 several large masses of evergreens now in their third 

 year from planting, on our grounds, the effects of which 

 as windbreaks are even this winter apparent, there is on 

 an adjoining place a belt of spruces, about twelve years 

 planted, that is now fully 20 feet in height. In passing 

 these evergreens daily through the winter, we never fail 

 to be impressed with their influence in subduing the 

 force of the winds. The contrast between the cold felt 

 back of the screen on a raw, wintry day, and that felt 

 beyond it in the full blast, is quite remarkable. If this 

 could be duly appreciated by land-owners everywhere, 

 there would soon be fifty evergreen screens where one is 

 to be found now. Young evergreens are cheap, and 

 nothing is easier than to raise a magnificent wind- 



break of this kind. Its province is to promote an earlier 

 garden, to enable us to grow many plants and shrubs 

 too delicate for open exposure, and to save fuel in keep- 

 ing the home at a comfortable temperature. 



A Handsome Veronica. — One of the more recently 

 introduced hardy veronicas in our collection is the Japa- 

 nese species, Veronica siihsessilis . It is, without doubt, 

 the handsomest of the genus, and, judging by its behavior 

 here, it deserves to be ranked among the best hardy 

 plants in cultivation. It is of robust habit, with rich 

 deep green foliage that gives it character in any collec- 

 tion. The flower-spike is remarkably handsome, being 

 large, with the florets of a brilliant amethystine blue — 

 a rare color in the flower garden, and which in this in- 

 stance contrasts beautifully with the foliage of the plant. 

 Coming into flower, as this species does, along with the 

 double perennial sunflower of golden hue, the two plants 

 are well suited to enhance each other's attractions if 

 planted near together. The height of the veronica is 

 one to two feet. Being of lower habit than the sun- 

 flower, if used for an outside line to a bed composed of 

 the former, the effect would be fine. A merit of the 

 veronica is that it blooms in full beauty for some weeks 

 in succession. We recommend this plant for trial. 



Jm Salle-oii-the-Niagara, N. V. 



HOW TO MAKE A HOTBED. 



iY THE AUTHOR OF " WALKS AND TALKS ON THE FARM. 



N ORDINARY hot- 

 bed consists of a 

 quantity of man- 

 ure, which in fer- 

 menting produces 

 heat. The bed is 

 covered with soil 

 five or six inches 

 deep. The heat 

 from the manure 

 warms the soil, and 

 seed sown in it ger- 

 minates as rapidly as it would if sown outdoors in 

 June. To protect the plants after they are started, 

 a frame made of inch boards, a foot or fifteen in- 

 ches wide, is placed on the bed and the edges 

 pressed an inch or so into the soil. Glass sashes 

 are placed on this frame to admit the light and heat 

 of the sun and keep out the cold air. The sashes 

 are so arranged that they can easily be slided up 

 and down, so as to admit of ventilation. 



A frame for four sashes is usually about 12 feet long 

 and five feet wide. The quantity of manure needed for 

 such a frame depends on the weather, and on the plants 

 you wish to grow. If you have plenty of manure it is 

 better to use too much than too little. It is an easy matter 



to cool off the bed. The more manure you have and 

 the more it is trodden down into the bed the longer will 

 the heat continue. For a frame of four sashes we usually 

 draw out for our first hotbed in February about five 

 tons of fresh horse-dung. This quantity of manure 

 contains about 7,000 pounds of water and 3,000 pounds 

 of dry matter. During fermentation half a ton or more 

 of the organic matter is consumed, giving out about as 

 much heat as would be obtained from burning half a 

 ton of coal. In practice, however, more heat is lost in 

 burning the coal than from fermenting manure. The 

 organic matter of the manure which is converted into car- 

 bonic acid and water during fermentation, and which is 

 lost, has no manurial value. The manure that is left 

 after we have done with the hotbed is worth as much, 

 provided none of the plant-food has been washed into 

 the ground, as the original five tons. All we have lost is 

 the labor of hauling it ; and in our opinion the increased 

 availability of the rotted manure more than compen- 

 sates for this labor. The heat derived from the 

 manure, therefore, costs us nothing. 



In making the bed, our main object is to get the 

 manuretofermentevenly throughout thebed. In form- 

 ing bread or beer, or ' ' buckwheat-cakes, " we mix ' ' yeast" 

 with it. The active ingredientof yeast is a microscopic 

 plant that grows and decomposes the flour or dough. 

 The same is true of manure. The only difference is 

 that we do not take pains to get the yeast. It depends 



