November, 1916 
THE GARDEN :M A G A Z I N E 
133 
VEGETABLES THAT MAY BE PROFITABLY GROWN UNDER GLASS 
KIND AND VARIETY 
DISTANCE APART 
TO PLANT 
AVERAGE 
HEIGHT 
OF PLANTS 
Bean Triumph of France 1 
“ Early Wonder [ 
“ Dwarf French Forcing I 
Beet Electric j 
“ Crosby’s Egyptian f 
“ Eclipse 1 
Carrot French Forcing \ 
“ Gold Ball [ 
Cauliflower Dwarf Erfurt 
Cucumber Improved Telegraph 1 
“ Davis Perfect / 
Kohlrabi Short Leaved White 
Vienna 
Lettuce Grand Rapids 1 
“ Big Boston > 
“ Mignonette J 
Muskmelon Blenheim Orange 1 
“ Sutton’s Emerald Gem f 
Radish Rapid Red I 
“ French Breakfast 
“ Wood’s Early Frame | 
“ Icicle I ) 
Spinach Thick leaved 
Tomato Bonny Best T 
“ Globe 1 
“ Stirling Castle ( 
“ Comet J 
4 X 8 in. 
2 X 6 in. 
1 X 6 in. 
10 X 12 in. 
2 X 2 in. 
2 X 6 in. 
4 X 6 in. 
6 X 6 ft. 
2 X 2 ft. 
1 X 4 in. 
2 X 4 in. 
2 X 4 in. 
18 X 24 in. 
1 8-10 in. 
1 8-10 in. 
I 6- 8 in. 
} 8-10 in. 
I 6-8 in. 
10-12 in. 
\ 10-15 in. 
6-8 ft. 
1 8-10 in. 
I 0-6 ft. 
1 10-15 ft. 
\ 4 in. 
I 4-6 in. 
4-6 in. 
8-15 ft. 
DAYS REQUIRED COMPANION CROPS 
[TO YIELD CROP SUGGESTED 
45-50 
42-45 
45-50 
40-45 
45—50 
50-52 
45-50 
50-55 
100-125 
115-120 
60-T5 
55-65 
Radishes, Cress, Parsley 
Carrots 
Onions from sets 
Kohlrabi for succession 
Lettuce 
Spinach, Radish 
Radish, Lettuce, Beets 
Lettuce 
Beets, Carrots 
35—45 
40-50 
45—55 
1 100-115 
I 18-25 
1 25—35 
Radishes 
Carrots 
Beets 
Beans 
Grand Rapids Lettuce, Tomato 
Lettuce 
Carrots 
Beets 
30 
95 
100 
95 
95 
Any cool season crop 
Grand Rapids Lettuce or 
Cucumbers 
REMARKS 
Requires plenty of light and air. 
Do not pick when vines are wet. 
Splendid for frames. All beans do best after February 1st. 
Set onions when sowing beets. 
Plant as soil begins to cool off. 
Not every crop requires exact conditions. 
Not adapted for open ground. 
Very prolific, outdoors as well. 
Best while quite young. 
All lettuces like cool houses or nearly spent hotbeds. 
Especially fine for coldframe culture. 
Requires expert experience and considerable care. 
Do not grow repeated radish crops in same space or bench. 
Grow only as a filler. 
Bright red, medium size. 
Finest of all large purple sorts. 
Medium sized bright red. 
Small, bright red, exceptionally prolific. 
parison with the cost of other factors, deluding 
equipment employed. 
Above are the varietiesthathavesuccessfully 
stood many tests and which may be expected, 
with reasonable certainty, to do what is pro- 
mised. 
In using the table, allowances must be made 
in connection with varieties as to height of 
plants and time of maturity. Soil, sun and 
season are even more important factors in con- 
nection with under glass culture than outdoors. 
As a general rule, all vegetables, either in 
greenhouses or hotbeds, grow better after 
February 1st than before that date for the 
reason that as the days grow longer, the plants 
get more light. Between Thanksgiving and 
February" 1st it takes considerably more effort 
on the part of the gardener to create correct 
growing conditions because be also has to over- 
come the inherent tendency of the seeds or 
plants to be dormant at that time of the year. 
The wider the variation in conditions surround- 
ing your “under glass” efforts, the more 
widely will results differ. No hard and fast 
rules can be laid down for the growing of any 
kind of vegetable crop during the winter. In 
the final analysis, every reader must pick out 
those varieties which he thinks will best serve 
his needs, put them to work and learn as he 
progresses. Study results, compare stand- 
ards, make notes, and, from season to season, 
apply the lessons learned — will help a great 
deal. 
An Evolution from the Hotbed — e. g. ames, sr., 
RECONSTRUCTION .OF A COLD PIT INTO A SERVICEABLE STRUCTURE WHICH GIVES VEGETABLES ALL WINTER 
AND STARTS FLOWER SEEDLINGS FOR SPRING 
T he desire for coldframes which would 
eliminate the usual tiresome bending 
over, and which would also be more 
independent of the weather, led to the con- 
struction of our first cold pit. The site was 
ideal. To the north a steep, sandy bank cut 
off the winds and at most seasons reflected 
the heat of the sun. On the south no trees 
or buildings close enough to overshadow ex- 
cept during the very late afternoon. 
I he cold pit was really built around seven 
regulation hotbed sash, 3 by 6 feet. An ex- 
cavation was made within which was con- 
structed a shell of second hand brick; the 
inside dimensions were 21 ft. 6 in. long by 6 
ft. wide and 5 ft. deep at a cost of >;8.oo for 
material. If built of ordinary field stone 
this expense could be reduced to merely the 
cost of cement. 1 he back wall against the 
bank was made 12 in. thick and 6 ft. 3 in. 
high; the front wall 6 in. thick 5 ft. bigh. 
The ends were 6 in. thick and sloping. 
Upon this rectangle a frame of 2 x 4 hem- 
lock was fastened to hold the sash. At the 
west end was a small door to which access 
was had by wooden steps in a 4 x 6 ft. well 
faced with cobbles set in concrete. 
Two benches 4 in 8 in. from the floor ran 
the length of the pit. They were of hemlock, 
the rear one nearly 3 ft. wide, the front only 
14 inches, leaving a space of 20 inches between. 
The drawbacks of this arrangement were 
quickly seen. The front bench was so nar- 
row and so close to the sash that it was use- 
less except for spring seedlings. The sup- 
ports of the rear bench used so much room 
and shut out so much light that the space 
beneath was available only for wintering a 
few semi-hardy plants. 
During the following February it was 
decided to enlarge the pit, making it more 
like a small greenhouse without heat. To 
save the plants growing in the back bench, 
the construction was made more difficult 
than it otherwise would have been. A frame 
of 2x4 hemlock was first erected. On a 
mild day the middle sash was taken out and 
a 4 X 4 chestnut 10 feet long (the main sup- 
port for the ridgepole) sunk 18 inches in 
the ground and surrounded with concrete to 
prevent rot. The back and roof was then 
sheathed in i x 6 tongue and groove N. C. 
pine, and covered with roofing paper, space 
for two 3 ft. X 3 ft. windows being left in the 
roof. 
A new front wall of cement 6 in. thick was 
set 18 inches in front of the old one. This 
extended only 4 inches above the surface and 
6 inches below. The ends of the old walls 
were brought out to join this, and a frame 
from ridgepole to front to carry the sash was 
built after the ordinary hotbed construction, 
except that provision was made to hinge the 
sash to the ridgepole Instead of having them 
slide. The frames for the ends and station- 
ary front were then constructed and fitted 
into place, and last of all the sash were lifted 
from the old pit and placed in position on the 
new frames. 
The next step was to remove the sash frame 
inside, and knock away the old front wall to 
a depth of 8 inches below the surface. The 
wall from this point to the floor was not dis- 
turbed, but the width of the bench thus more 
than doubled. 
Both benches are of concrete, supported 
by sections of iron rail, three to each bench, 
imbedded 18 inches in the brick walls. Five 
of these lengths of rail were on the place; for 
the sixth support an old wagon axle was bought 
from the blacksmith at a cost of twenty-five 
cents. Between these rails supported by a 
temporary scaffolding was built a rough board 
platform, the top flush with the top of the 
rails, to which was nailed a front and end of 
boards, forming a box 8 inches deep running 
the length of the house in the case of the front 
bench, but cutting off three feet from the back 
bench, at the end nearest the door, to leave 
space for a coal stove, or small hot water 
heater should that ever be desired. 
On the floor of this box was placed three 
layers of chicken wire — scraps of any avail- 
able size and mesh. Then, running laterally 
and well supported by the iron rails, came 
four lengths of old gas pipe, 5 inch and f inch. 
On this reinforcement the concrete — one part 
cement to three of sand — was placed to a 
depth of 25 inches, the whole smoothed and 
allowed to set for a few hours. 
Before it was entirely hard boards were 
fastened upright ij inches inside the front 
of the box and the space filled with concrete 
thoroughly packed down. The whole was 
allowed to set for a period of four days before 
