A LITTLE PLACE IN THE COUNTRY. 



69 



At night the bed must be covered tight. In the 

 morning it should be examined the first thing, and 

 if there is much steam or undue heat the sash 

 should be raised a very little and kept up until the 

 excess escapes. The bed may not be opened in the 

 direction of the wind, as when the plants have been 

 in such an atmosphere over night they would be 

 very easily injured by a frosty breath. As the sea- 

 son advances, and the rays of the sun generate 

 greater heat beneath the glass, the sash may be 



sun will speedily exhaust all the moisture naturally 

 contained in the six inches of supplied soil, and that 

 no moisture can be drawn from the ground beneath 

 on account of the intervening mass of manure. So 

 water must be regularly supplied to the surface, and 

 it should be done by a hand-sprinkler having a very 

 fine rose, so that the ground will not be made wet or 

 heavy in places. 



The work of preparing the beds and sowing the 

 seeds of the different sorts of vegetables is practi- 



Getting Ready for Some Karly Things in a Sunny Spot. 



kept up a little while in the middle of the day, but 

 should be closed early enough to secure and store 

 sufficient heat to last through the night. 



By carefully watching this first bed for a few days, 

 noting the germination of the seed and the starting 

 and growth of the plantlet, much useful knowledge 

 regarding the details of hot- bed management will be 

 acquired. Thus it is best to prepare this first bed 

 as early as possible, and use it as a basis of study 

 for the future work. 



One thing that must be borne in mind is that the 



cally the same ; but their succession must be deter- 

 mined by the relative time at which the plants may 

 be set in the open ground, as well as upon the 

 length of time required for the germination of the 

 seed. Thus, lettuce may not only be put out earlier, 

 but it is slower to start than cabbage and cauli- 

 flower ; and if tomatoes should be started at the 

 same time as the latter, they would be too large to 

 handle by the time the season was far enough ad- 

 vanced to put them out. 



In handling the beds, too, after the plants are 



