HOME VEGETABLE GARDENING 
HOTBEDS 
A HOTBED is simply a boarded-up garden covered 
with glass. In it one may grow certain crops to 
maturity out of season and hasten the maturity of other 
crops requiring a long season, by affording them an early 
start. A hotbed consists of a subframe which extends 
from fifteen to eighteen inches beneath the soil, depending 
on the climate. On top of this rests the frame proper, gen- 
erally about eighteen inches high in back, twelve inches in 
front, sloping toward south. I his is covered with a glass 
sash which keeps in the heat. A single-sash hotbed of stand- 
ard size measures three feet wide by six feet long; larger 
ones should be constructed in multiples of three feet wide. 
There are several methods by which the soil may be 
heated in a hotbed. The most general custom is to use 
fermenting manure. This is piled up outdoors, in heaps 
four to five feet square, and high. It soon begins to 
steam, when it should be turned over. I his is repeated 
until the pile is thoroughly and uniformly heated. I his 
26 
