THE AMATEUR’S KITCHEN GARDEN. 
243 
point, by removing the plants from the bed, turning them 
over, and adding a little fresh tan, the heat can soon be 
brought up to the proper pitch again. It will be needful to 
remove at intervals the decayed portion of the tan, because if 
allowed to remain it will prevent the bed heating satisfac- 
torily, and afford accommodation for worms, which, as a 
matter of course, will soon find their way to the interior of 
the pots. To remove this powdery stuff, the result of decay, 
is the most simple matter possible, as you have onfy to sift 
the tan and to throw on one side that which will not pass 
through the sieve, and to remove the other entirely from the 
house. In remaking beds which have been sifted put in the 
bottom of the bed as much new tan as will, with the remain- 
ing portion of the old material, bring up the beds to the 
proper level again, and then spread the old tan over it. By 
this arrangement the heat will be sufficient for promoting a 
healthy root action. 
With hot-water pipes underneath the bed, the material im- 
mediately over the platform will in a comparatively short 
time become as dry as dust, and when this occurs the bed 
must be turned over and the dry stuff intermixed with the 
bulk of material, or the heat will not pass through, and in 
consequence the pipes will become of but little service. This 
remark holds good with reference to all the fermenting 
materials, but it is especially applicable to tan. 
In alluding to the beds, reference has hitherto been made 
to fermenting materials only, and before proceeding further, 
it is desirable to explain that when hot-water pipes are pro- 
vided, fermenting materials may be dispensed with altogether. 
If they can be obtained without an extravagant outlay, they 
should be employed. But if the materials have to be pur- 
chased at a considerable outlay, the cultivator should rely 
entirely upon the heat from the pipes. Something must be 
provided in which to plunge the pots, and for this purpose 
either sand or cocoa-nut fibre refuse can be employed. As a 
great depth of either of these is not required, the platforms 
should not be placed so close to the pipes as advised 
above ; a depth ranging from fifteen to eighteen inches will 
perhaps be the most suitable, and as the warmth will be 
derived entirely from the pipes, special care must be taken to 
prevent the bottom layer of the material remaining in a dry 
state for any length of time. 
R 2 
