CHAPTER V. 
SASHES AND BEDDING PLANTS. 
The cost of a hot-bed sash, glazed and painted, is some- 
where about $2; and such a sash can be made to earn its cost 
every year. The 
farmer who has, 
say, a pair of 
sashes for hot- 
bed work and an- 
other pair for 
cold-frame work, 
can turn them to 
very good ac- 
count in the early 
spring, not only 
in starting such 
bedding plants as may be required in his own operations, 
but in producing plants for his neighbors. It costs but little 
more to grow 1,000 than 100 cabbage, tomato or egg plants, 
and the surplus above the home requirement can be con- 
verted into dollars. 
The Hot Bed — The hot-bed is merely a board-lined pit, 
containing fermenting manure, with a few inches of soil on 
the manure, and covered by a sash. The ordinary sash is 
about 3x6 feet. A board shutter, the exact size of the sash, 
or a mat of straw, completes the outfit. The depth of 
manure, depending on the purpose in view, should be from 
1 to 2 feet, the depth of soil from 3 to 6 inches, and the dis- 
tance from soil to glass about 4 inches at the start. As the 
manure ferments the soil will sink. 
