VEGETABLE SEEDS 
HOW TO BUILD AND MANAGE HOT BEDS 
For early vegetables, some provision tor starting certain 
plants earlier than can be done in the open air is desirable; for 
this purpose nothing is better than a good hot-bed, and its con- 
struction is so simple and the expense so slight that every gar- 
den should have one. A hot-bed proper not only protects the 
plants from the cold but supplies bottom, neat. By this term 
the gardener means that the soil is constantly kept several de- 
grees warmer than the air above, that being the condition so 
far as heat is concerned, which is most favorable for rapid and 
vigorous growth, and gardeners usually secure it by making a 
compact pile of some fermenting material and covering it with 
the earth in which the plants are to grow 
Material The Dest heating material *hat is easily 
available is fresh horse manure, con- 
taining a liberal quantity of straw 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 and moderate but lasting heat. To secure this, the 
manure should be forked over, shaken apart, and if dry, 
watered and allowed to stand a few days and then be forked 
over again, piled and allowed to heat a second time, the object 
being to get the whole mass into a uniform degree of fermen- 
tation and as soon as this is accomplished it is fit for use. 
Sdsh Gardeners commonly use sash made especially for hot- 
beds and glazed with small lights cut from odds and 
ends and so furnished at very low rates. Such sash can usually 
be procured in any of our large cities, aud costs much less than 
if made to order. For garden use, however, we much prefer 
a smaller sash that can be easily handled, and the use of larger 
and better glass. We would recommend that for home gardens, 
the sash be about two and one-half by four or five feet, and 
that the glass be not less than 10x14, laid with not more than 
one-quarter inch lap. In giving the order to one unaccustomed 
to the work, it would be well to state what they are to be used 
for, and that they need to be made like skylight sash. 
The Frame This raa y '- ie ma( * e soun< i one-inch lumber, 
the back twelve to fourteen inches high, the 
front ten to twelve. It should be well fitted to the sash so as 
to leave as little opening as possible and yet allow the sash to 
be easily moved up and down, even when the frame is quite 
wet. 
The Soil This should be light, rich, friable. Any consider- 
able amount of clay in it is very objectionable. If 
possible, it should be 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 the 
frost. 
Making Bed This requires careful attention, as future 
* success depends largely upon the manner 
in which this work is done. Having cleared away snow and 
ice, build a rectangular bed one foot larger each way than the 
frame to be used, carefully 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. It is of the utmost importance that this shaking 
apart and evenly pressing down of the manure should be care- 
fully and thoroughly done; unless it is, 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 will vary with the climate, season and the kind of 
plants to be raised. A shallow bed will quickly give a high 
temperature which will soon subside; a deeper one, if well 
made, will heat more moderately, but continue much longer. 
For general purposes, a bed about 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 replenished as it settles). The bed should then be allowed 
to stand with the sash partially open for a day or two to allow 
the steam and rank heat to pass off. The earth should then 
be put on and carefully leveled. Care should be taken that 
the soil is dry and friable. If wet or frozen soil must be used, 
it should be placed in small piles until well dried out before 
spreading. The heat at first will be quite violent, frequently 
rising to 120 degrees; but it soon subsides, and when it recedes 
to 90 degrees the seed may be planted. The importance of 
using dry soil and allowing the first rank heat to pass off is 
very great. Every season thousands of hot-beds fail of good 
results from these causes, and seedsmen are blamed for failure 
resulting from overheat, or wet, soggy soil. 
The essentials 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 ex- 
Management of the Bed 
posure to the air and dimimsnmg tne supply of water ot tt-t 
plants before transplanting into the open air. Simple as these 
may seem to be, there are many difficulties in the way of secur- 
ing them, prominent among which are overheating the air un- 
der a bright sun. Without experience one would scarcely be- 
lieve 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. A rush 
of cold air driven over the plants is far more injurious then the 
same temperature when the air is still. Again, in cloudy 
weather, a bed will go several days without watering, but will 
dry up in an hour when open on a sunny day. The details of 
management, however, must be learned by experience, but 
may be easily acquired by one who gives the matter careful at- 
tention, keeping constantly in mind the essentials given above. 
\ Cold Frame > s a Simple construction of boards for win- 
tering over young plants, Cabbage, Let- 
tuce, Cauliflower, Brocoli, etc., and is also extremely useful to 
protect and harden off plants from the greenhouse or hot-bed 
before fully exposing them in the open air. 
Select a dry, southern exposure, form a frame from four to 
six feet wide and as long as required. The back should be 
fourteen to eighteen inches high, and the front eight to twelve, 
with a cross-tie every three feet. The frame may be covered 
with sash or cloth. Seeds of the vegetables to be wintered 
sown in open border early in September, will be ready to plant 
in cold frames about the last of October. The soil should be 
well prepared and smoothly raked before planting. Admit air 
freely on pleasant days but keep close in severe weather. 
These frames are particularly useful in the South, and may 
be covered more cheaply with cloth shades than by sash. The 
shades are made as follows: Make light but strong wooden 
frames to fit over the bed, and of a width to receive some com- 
mon brand of cotton cloth. The cloth may be unbleached, 
and should be stretched over and securely tacked to the frames. 
Transplanting In transplanting, the main points to be re- 
‘ ® garded are: care in taking up the plants so 
as to avoid injury to the roots, planting firmly so as to enable 
the plant to take a secure hold of the soil, reducing the top to 
prevent evaporation, and shading to prevent the hot sun from 
withering and blighting the leaves. In transplanting from a 
hot-bed harden the plants by letting them get quite dry a day 
or two before, but give an abundance of water a few hours 
before they are taken out. It is most apt to be successful if 
done just at evening, or immediately before or during the first 
part of a rain, about the worst time being just after rain, when 
the ground being wet it is impossible to sufficiently press it 
about the plant without its baking hard. If water is used at 
all it should be used freely, and ‘lie wet surface immediately 
covered with dry soil. 
Watering The best time to water plants is between sunset 
* and sunrise. Water may be given to the roots at 
any time, but should never be sprinkled over the leaves while 
they are exposed to bright sunshine. If watering a plant has 
been commenced, continue to supply it as it is needed, or more 
injury than good will result from what has been given. One 
copious watering is better than many scanty sprinklings. The 
ground should always be stirred with a hoe or rake as soon 
after watering as it can be done without making the soil muddy 
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