176 
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN. 
to begin by making a good bed, and to wait nntil experience 
has taught how shifts may be made, and severe economy 
practised. Moreover, a well-made hotbed will abundantly 
pay for its cost, for after it has supplied seedling plants for 
the flower garden, it will be in a good condition for growing 
marrows or mushrooms, with a proper improvement of the 
top soil by the addition of good loam and manure, according 
to the requirements of the case. The larger the bulk, the 
longer will the heat continue, and the more steady will it be. 
When the frame is put on, it is probable that the heat will 
rise to too high a pitch, in which case the frame must be 
tilted to allow the steam to escape. The beginner must bear 
in mind, that if the whole affair is as light as possible, the 
heat will be more moderate than if it is pressed or beaten 
down ; therefore, in the employment of rank manure, though 
two or three times turned, care should be taken not to tread 
on the beds more than is absolutely necessary. On the other 
hand, if old manure is employed, and the heat does not rise 
as desired, tread down the manure pretty firm before putting 
on the soil, and there will soon be a nice heat generated that 
will last long enough, with a careful husbanding of the 
warmth derived from the sun, by shutting up early, and 
giving no air at all on bleak, dull days. It is always better 
to sow seeds and to strike cuttings on a bed in a frame 
over a mass of fermenting material; nevertheless, pots and 
seed-pans may be employed instead, or both systems may 
be pursued simultaneously. Our practice, for many years 
past, has been to make up a bed with about twenty or 
thirty loads of well-rotted manure, and put on the frames, 
and set them to work at once, regulating the heat by judicious 
ventilation. The bed is kept at work throughout the sum¬ 
mer, for various purposes, and in the winter is cleared away, 
and the manure stored in the potting-shed, to be ready for 
use in preparing composts, and to make the ground ready for 
a new bed in the spring. When propagating on hotbeds 
is commenced early, it is necessary to have ready in good 
time a second set of beds, on which to prick out the plants 
raised in the first, because tender subjects must be hept growing 
until they can be safely planted out. The amateur who grows 
but a few choice plants, and has but few conveniences for the 
pursuit, will do well to defer to the latest moment possible the 
commencement of hotbed work, because then the sun will be 
