HOT-BEDS-EOW TO MAKE THEM. 
Heating Material.— The best heating material that is easily 
available is fresh horse nianure, containing: a liberal quantity of 
bedding. Such manure, if thrown. into a loose pile, will heat 
violently and unevenly and will soon become cold. What is 
wanted in the hot-bed is a steady but moderate and lasting heat. 
To secure this, the manure should be forked over and thrown mto 
a loose pile, which should remain undisturbed for a few days and 
then be forked o^er again, piled and allowed to heat a second 
time, when aiter a few days more it will be ready for use. The 
object of this repeated forking over and piling is to get the whole 
mass into a uniform degree of fermentation. 
The Soil should be light, riah and friable. Any considerable 
amount of clay in it is very objectionable. If possible, it should 
be quite dry and unfrozen when put into the bed ; for this reason 
it is much better to prepare it the fall before and cover the pile 
with enough coarse manure or straw to keep out frost. 
If from any reason you are obliged ^ to use frozen soil, it may 
be placed in small piles upon the manure immediately upon the 
completion of the bed, but it should not be again disturbed until 
it has thawed and dried out, and care should be used to give tree 
vent for the escape of the sceam and moist air. , , . . 
The Frame may be made of inch lumber, the back IZ or 14 
inches high, the front from 8 to 10 inches. It should be fitted to 
the sash as close as possible, and yefc allow the sash to slide easily 
even when wet. ■ ^ . . , 
Making the Bed.— This requires careful attention, as tuture 
success depends largely upon the manner in which this work is 
done. Sometimes the bed is made by digging away the soil about 
a foot deep the size of the frame and puttiiig the heating material 
into the excavation and inside the frame. If made on the sur- 
face of the ground, clear away all snow and ice, build a rectangu- 
lar bed one foot larger each way than the frame to be used, 
carefullv shaking out and spreading each forkful, and repeatedly 
treading down the manure so as to make the bed as uniform as 
possible in solidity, composition and moisture; unless this is 
done, one portion will heat quicker than the others, and the soil 
will .settle unevenly, making it impossible to raise good plants. 
The proper depth of the bed v^id Vary with the climate, season, 
and the kind of plants to be raised. A shallow bed will give a 
quick sharp heat and soon subside ; a deeper one, if well made, 
will heat more moderately but continue much longer. For gen- 
eral purposes, a bed one and a half to two feet deep will be best. 
The bed completed, the frame and sash may be put on, and 
fresh manure carefully packed around the outside to the very top 
(if the weather is at all severe, this outside banking should be re- 
plenished as it settles.) The bed should then be allowed to stand 
a few days with the sash partially open, . to allow the steam and 
rank heat to pass off. The heat will at first be quite, violent, fre- 
quently rising in the first few days to 130 ^ , but it soon subsides, 
and when it recedes to 90® the earth may be put in and the seeds 
planted. 
The importance of allowing this gross heat to pass off before 
planting the seeds is very great, as every season thousands of hot 
beds are failures, and their builders blame the seedsmen for send-, 
ing them poor seed, when the real diflficultj'- was that their seeds 
were burnt up by this first heat. 
Management op the Bed. — The essentiials for success are a 
steady, uniform degree of heat and moisture ; keeping the soil at 
all times a few degrees warmer than the air, and the careful 
" hardening off " (by exposure to the air and diminishing the 
supply of water) of the plants before transplanting into the open 
air. Simple as these seem to be, there are many difiS-Culties in 
the way of securing them, prominent among which are overheat- 
ing the air under a bright sun. Without experience one would 
scarcely believe how quickly the temperature inside of a well 
built hot-bed will rise to 90 or 100 degrees upon a still, sunny day, 
even when the temperature outside is far below freezing, or how 
quickly the temperature will fall to that outside^ if upon a windy 
cloudy day the sash is left open ever so little ; besides, such a rush 
of cold air driven over the plants is far more injurious than the 
same temperature when the air is still, . 
