clean opening. After firming, the surface should be smoothed 
and made fiat and even. Sow the seed thinly. The ideal is for 
each seed to have one-half inch space. In watering be careful 
not to wash the seeds out. A good way is to cover the box with 
a piece of cheese cloth and place a small piece of paper just 
where the water strikes from the bulb sprayer. No fixed rule 
can be given for watering the young plants as it depends 
entirely upon the soil used, the temperature maintained and 
other matters that control evaporation. But where one plant 
dies of thirst, there are thousands destroyed by "damping off," 
which is a parasitical disease induced by over-watering or over- 
crowding. With underwatering the plants always show signs 
of distress before any serious damage is done. After they have 
germinated they should be kept in a temperature of about 70 
degrees. 
Hot-beds Not m &ny of us need to bother with the intricacies of sowing 
seeds in a greenhouse, but preparing the hot-beds is most 
important. They are heated by fermenting manure — fresh 
horse manure being regarded as necessary. The frame should 
be excavated about 16 inches deep, measuring from the top of 
the front. About 8 inches of manure is then placed in the frame 
and firmed by tamping. (In making hot-beds for winter use, 
from two to three feet of manure is necessary but for spring 
work the 8 inches is sufficient). On top of the manure place 
about 4 inches of good garden soil and when this is firmed and 
properly smoothed off the frame will be ready for sowing seeds. 
Only about one-half of one sash will be necessary for seeding 
purposes. The rest of the space will be needed after the seeds 
have germinated, when they must be transplanted. Ventilate 
freely on fine days and even on cloudy days a little air must be 
admitted as the frames are full of ammonia fumes. 
Cold- Seed sowing in the cold-frames cannot be done until 
Frames considerably later than they are started in the house or hot-bed, 
but it is a decided gain over waiting to sow in the open ground, 
as the protection makes growth much more rapid. One of the 
big mistakes usually made in starting seeds in a cold-frame is to 
sow in the soil on which the frame is built. This is often good 
garden soil but the method of sowing seeds must always be the 
same and there is no proper drainage for young seeds when 
sown directly in the soil of the frame. It is perhaps easier to 
sow the seeds in flats and set them in frames, and later the 
seedlings can be pricked out and transplanted into the frames. 
The setting out of seedlings must be governed by the weather. 
For very tender plants there is an easily applied glass cover 
known as the "Grow-quick" forcer. Its uses are many. One 
should harden off the plants in a cold-frame early so that at the 
first opportunity the Foxgloves, Canterbury Bells, Violas, 
Pansies, Primroses, etc., can be brought up and put in place. 
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