40 
MAKING HOTBEDS. [chap. ii. 
The size of the hotbed must depend princi¬ 
pally on the size of the frame which is to 
cover it; observing that the bed must be 
from six inches to a foot wider than the frame 
every way. The manure must then be 
spread in layers, each layer being beaten 
down with the back of the fork, till the bed 
is about three feet and a half high. The sur¬ 
face of the ground on which the hotbed is 
built, is generally raised about six inches 
above the general surface of the garden; and 
it is advisable to lay some earth round the 
bottom of the bed, nearly a foot wide, that 
it may receive the juices of the manure that 
will drain from the bed. As soon as the 
bed is made, the frame is put on and the 
sashes kept quite close, till a steam appears 
upon the glass, when the bed is considered 
in a fit state to be covered three or four 
inches deep with mould; observing, if the 
bed has settled unequally, to level the surface 
of the manure before covering it with earth. 
The seeds to be raised may either be sown 
in this earth, or in pots to be plunged 
in it. 
The proper average heat for a hotbed in- 
