1902 
5 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
EVERYBODY'S GARDEN. 
Hotbeds and Cold Frames. —Granted 
their necessity, then comes the size 
desired, length of purse, etc. Direc¬ 
tions for making the most approved 
kinds will be found below, which may 
be varied according to circumstances. 
The most convenient size of sash is five 
feet six inches by three feet two inches, 
which may be made at any sash and 
blind factory. This size of sash will re¬ 
quire four rows 8x10 glass, 6panes to 
the row, or 26 in all, and about four 
pounds of putty. Before glazing, the 
sash should be primed with white lead 
and oil, about one pound of lead to one 
quart of oil, or better still, white lead 
and yellow ochre equal parts, as it 
makes a more lasting body than the 
lead alone. For the priming coat paint 
thoroughly but thinly, as it is the oil 
and not the filler that is required to 
hold the putty firmly. In laying the 
glass, begin at the lower or level end of 
the sash, lapping the first glass not less 
than a half inch on to the sash rail. Lay 
the glass crowning side up and lap each 
glass a full half inch, as shingles are 
laid, only with less lap. Tack each glass 
firmly in place with zinc points, or, pre¬ 
ferably, smaii brads. The putty should 
be soft as possible, as when it is once 
set, it will adhere much more firmly 
than if applied too stiff. After the putt} 
is set, paint the sash with two coats, 
same as the priming coat, only four to 
five pounds of the lead and ochre should 
be used to the quart of oil. Paint thor¬ 
oughly as it will pay many times over 
in the wear of the sash. The cost of the 
sash at present high price of material, 
will be upwards of $2 each, ready for use, 
exclusive of labor of painting and glaz¬ 
ing. The labor, however, may be done 
at odd times by any man, woman or 
handy boy, by following carefully the 
directions. Four sash of the above size 
will cover a box 12 feet eight inches 
by five feet six inches, and its capabili¬ 
ties if properly managed will be a reve¬ 
lation to the uninitiated. 
The higher side of the bed should be 
18 inches in height, and the lower side 
12 inches, giving six inches slant, which 
is none too much. Each side should 
have three 2x4 posts, cut four inches 
longer than the height of the respect¬ 
ive sides, and the tops of the posts 
should be cut the same slant as the top 
of the bed. With the side boards nailed 
to the top of the posts, the bed when 
completed and set up will be four inches 
above the ground, which permits the 
posts to be settled into the ground some¬ 
what, and also gives more space for ma¬ 
nure and economizes in lumber. A 
board 12 inches wide by five feet six 
inches in length, sawed cornerwise from 
end to end, will make the slanting end 
pieces, and the remainder of the ends 
may then be filled with any width of 
board convenient. Three cross pieces 
one inch by three should be used for the 
sash supports, and should be let into the 
side boards even with the top and set 
at such distance apart that the edges of 
two sash will rest on one support. Nail 
a strip of board on the outside of the 
lower side of the bed, letting it extend 
an inch or more above the top of the 
bed, which will hold the sash squarely 
in place and prevent their slipping 
down. A cheaper box and one much in 
use in large operations, is made by sim¬ 
ply using four corner posts same height 
as the side boards. When filling, one 
side is tilted, letting the posts rest on 
bricks or blocks to give sufficient slant 
to carry off the water when the sash are 
placed on. This latter method is, of 
course, somewhat cheaper, but is also 
far less satisfactory. Should the above 
size be too expensive, use less sash; 
one sash is better than none. Cold 
frames are made in the same way, sim¬ 
ply using soil on the inside and pack¬ 
ing or banking with manure on the out¬ 
side. For Winter or early Spring use, 
straw mats or closely fitting board cov¬ 
ers should be used on both hotbeds and 
cold frames when there is danger of 
severe freezing. 
Cloth Covers. —A very cheap and 
also satisfactory covering may be made 
of cloth instead of glass, and while not 
entirely dependable for Winter work in 
northern localities, will meet every re¬ 
quirement in many parts of the South. 
The boxes or beds are made in the ordi¬ 
nary way, but no glass being used the 
expensive sash are not required. The 
frames are made of 1x2 inch strips, and 
in size are three feet in width by length 
sufficient to fit any width of bed. The 
corners are halved together and nailed 
with wire lath or shingle nails and 
clinched. For the center brace or sup¬ 
port take a piece same width as the 
sides and long enough to fit snugly be¬ 
tween the side pieces, place in the cen¬ 
ter and toe-nail the ends to the side 
pieces. The frames are covered with 
medium or heavyweight sheeting 
stretched tightly over the frames and 
tacked to outside edges. After this is 
done paint the cloth with two or three 
coats of the following mixture: Two 
thoroughly beaten eggs to a pint of raw 
linseed oil. When painting keep the 
mixture well stirred, and allow one coat 
to dry before applying another. Three, 
or even four coats of the paint are bet¬ 
ter than less, and frames thus covered 
will stand almost any amount of rain, 
and transmission of heat will be founfi 
ample for ordinary weather. These 
frames being very light, should be fast¬ 
ened to the bed, by means of Screw-eye 
and hook at each end. They can, of 
course, be made any length, to fit any 
width of bed, but should be three feet in 
width, as yard-wide sheeting will stretch 
sufficiently to lap over the edges of the 
frame. These frames will repay many 
times their cost if used for no other pur¬ 
pose than hardening off plants; and for 
growing lettuce and cabbage plants they 
are far and away superior to glass, as 
the heat is less fierce. A writer in the 
South complained of much annoyance 
by the sagging of the cloth, but finally 
overcame the difficulty by covering first 
with poultry wire (presumably of fine 
mesh) then with the cloth. Our ex¬ 
perience has been that when the cloth 
was tightly stretched and tnoroughly 
painted with the eggs and oil there was 
no trouble with the sagging, while un¬ 
painted cloth loosely put on would in¬ 
variably cause no end of trouble. Some 
writers on the subject are prone to be¬ 
little the usefulness of the cloth-covered 
sash, evidently forgetting that many 
cannot afford the outlay necessary for 
the glass, to say nothing of the green¬ 
house. Could we all afford greenhouses 
there would be little need for hotbeds 
of any kind; since we cannot all afford 
the greenhouse, nor yet the glass-filled 
sash, it is fortunate that the cloth cov¬ 
ers are available and ordinarily will 
take the place of the glass very nicely. 
The hotbeds should if possible face the 
south, and be sheltered on the north and 
west by buildings or other protection. 
Preparation of the Bed. —A few 
days previous to sowing the beds they 
should be filled to within eight inches 
of the top with manure (prepared as de¬ 
scribed in a previous issue), thoroughly 
tramped in, and at the same time be 
packed with manure on the outside. The 
amount used on the outside, of course, 
depends on the time of year, late Winter 
and early Spring work requiring a larg¬ 
er quantity than later work. In filling 
in the manure, it is always well to keep 
as nearly as possible the same slant as 
the cover will have when placed on the 
frame. After packing outside and in 
with the manure place the sash on until 
the heat is well started. If too slow in 
starting, pour in a few pailfuls of boil¬ 
ing water to hasten the heating, and 
when well under way put on the soil to 
the depth of four inches. The bed 
should be well aired occasionally to 
aliow the first rank heat to pass off be¬ 
fore the seed is sown. Four or five days 
will not be too many, and by this time 
many weed seeds will have started 
which will be destroyed by the raking 
necessary for preparing the seed bed. 
By careful attention to the above direc¬ 
tions any boy or man can make a hot¬ 
bed and the end will amply justify the 
means. .t. e. morse. 
Michigan. 
Sutton Beauty Apple in Connecticut. 
Reader .—1. What are the facts about the 
Sutton apple? Is it equal to Baldwin for 
the Connecticut Valley? 2. Would it be 
safe to buy peach trees from regions where 
yellows is known to prevail? 
Ans. —1. I think the Sutton Beauty 
apple has not been grown long enough 
in Connecticut unless it be in the north¬ 
ern part, to determine whether it is 
satisfactory or not. It originated in 
Massachusetts a good many years ago, 
and is pretty well liked there. The pre¬ 
sumption is that it will thrive any¬ 
where in Connecticut. O. B. Hadwin, 
of Worcester, Mass., who has grown it 
and been acquainted with it a long time, 
says “it is one of the coming apples for 
orchard planting.” I regaru it as su¬ 
perior to the Baldwin for eating. The 
public may say that it needs more acid 
in it to equal it for cooking. The yield 
and keeping of the Sutton I have not 
proved myself, but I have heard re¬ 
peatedly that it equals the Baldwin. In 
color of skin it is good to the last. A 
few plates of it were placed in the Con¬ 
necticut exhibit at Buffalo May 8 last, 
and some of them remained and were 
attractive on June 15—'being surpassed 
in that respect only by t^e Roxbury 
Russet. As to selling price in market 
compared with Baldwin I cannot say. 
The Sutton is the smaller of the two, 
but barring the matter of size it should 
sell as high or higher. 2. In theory it 
would be better to otbtain peach trees 
from some locality where yellows does 
not prevail at all. In practice as good 
results are reached with carefully-grown 
trees from districts where yellows does 
prevail. At this time I am rather more 
afraid of bringing San Jose scale with 
trees than of bringing the yellows. 
Connecticut Pomologist. n. s. platt. 
Best Fruit Paper. 
Rend a paper devoted solely to fruit culture| 
monthly, Illustrated, 16 to 48 pages, 50 cents a year, 
10 cents for three months, trial subscription. 
Western Fruit Grower, Box 3, St. Joseph, Mo. 
American Gardening 
10 Sample Copies, separate Issues, 10c. 
Published at 136 Liberty St., New York 
with the “incomparable’ 
BORDEAUX NOZZLEt 
and oor world’* beat outfit yon are abao v 
llute master of the situation. Insects and die-i 
lease fall before this all conquering outfit.. 
|Se« the book. It la free. Write for it now, 
THE DEM1NG CO., SALEM, OHIO. 
Western Agta., Henlon A Hubbell, Chicago. 
GpwERfREE 
■ Write for fun details. For the 
garden, farm, poultry house, barn, 
, orchard, etc. Self-operating- You hold 
1 the hose—the Sprayer does the work. 
Exterminate* Inneeta from Vegetables, 
| Sprays Trees, Showers Gardens, Washes 
Carriages, I leans Windows. Our new 
" Kant-Klog” Nozzle 
IS A DANDY. CAN BE USED ON ANY SPRAYER 
SPECIAL OFFER! For next 10 days to introduce this 
wonderful new nozzle we will send sample and take 
your old nozzle as part pay. Agent, make big money. 
Rochester Spray Pump Co.. 16 East Ave., Rochester, !l. Y • 
WITH THE 
IPIRE KING. 
„ This is the only hand pump hav- 
? ing a mechanical automatic agi¬ 
tator with a brush for keeping the 
suction strainer clean. This Co. 
also make the GarHclil Knapsack and 
Orchard Monarch, and can furnish 
the New Process Lime, which requires no slack¬ 
ing or straining. Valuable book sent free. 
FIELD FORCE PUMP CO., 
2 Jlarkctst., Loekport, N. Y. 
PRO FIT on LOSS? 
That’s the Question 
THE ECLIPSE 
SPRAY PUMP 
Will settle that in your 
orchard. With it you 
CAN make a profit, with¬ 
out it what do you get ? 
Send for Catalogue. 
MORRILL & M0RLEY, 
BENTON HARBOR, MICHIGAN. 
$ 1 , 000.00 
We offer one thousand dollar^ to be given in pre¬ 
miums on Butter at the next Anoual Meeting of the 
Vermont Dairymen’s Association if the “ Soci6t£ 
Anonyme Separator” di l not exhibit a Radiator 
at the Paris Exposition, 1900 ; and provided the De 
Laval Separator Co. will give the same amount if the 
“Soci6t6 Anonyme Separator” did exhibit a Itadiator 
there. 
$ 1 , 000.00 
We offer one thousand dollars to be given in pre¬ 
miums on Butter at the same meeting as stated above 
if the Aktiebolaget Separator did not have a large 
exhibit at the Paris Exposition, 1900, and did not 
distribute circulars in its own name ; and provided 
the De Laval Co. will give the same amount if the 
Aktiebolaget Separator did have such an exhibit, 
and distributed such circulars. 
$ 1 , 000.00 
We offer one thousand dollars to be given as above 
if the statements given below of the work of the U. S. 
Separator and the De Laval Separator in the Model 
Dairy at the Pan-American are not stated as given 
by the Superintendent of the Model Dairy, viz.: 
Average of tests of De Laval Separator, .0172 
Average of tests of United States Separator, .0138 
and provided the De Laval Separator Co. will give the 
same amount if those statements were not furnished 
by the Superintendent of the Model Dairy. 
Vermont Farm Machine Go., Bellows Falls, Vt. 
