1902 
865 
EVERYBODY'S GARDEN. 
Hotbed Questions.—How would you con¬ 
struct and manage a small hotbed for to¬ 
matoes, beets and early cabbage? Is it 
necessary to dig a hole or pit for either 
hotbed or cold frame? How shall I man¬ 
age to give each the proper amount of 
heat? Must I make separate beds, or will 
it do to make one large enough for an and 
put a partition through? What kind of 
soil is best for each? Would all wood soil 
do, or would it be better to mix clay or 
some other heavy soil? What depth 
should the manure and soil be either in 
hotbed or cold frame? How far should 
the sash be from the soil in either bed? 
What height should the tomatoes be to 
transplant into the cold frames? If they 
should get 15 or 20 inches high before trans¬ 
planting to open ground would it be any 
detriment? Would you fill in soil between 
rows in either bed, while they are grow¬ 
ing? Is there any advantage in clipping 
the points off the leaves at any stage of 
their growth? How much stable manure 
of good quality would you apply to the 
hill on fairly good ground, and how would 
you apply it? Is there any brand of com¬ 
mercial fertilizer that would take the place 
of stable manure, and how would you ap¬ 
ply it? Would it be best to spread lime or 
salt now, on land where there is nothing 
growing, or defer it until Spring? How 
would it do to put it on land that is over¬ 
run with chickweed? W r here can I obtain 
a good book on gardening and trucking? 
Denison, Pa. p. b. 
The glass sash will cost upwards of $2 
apiece at present high prices, but other 
devices will answer for the cold frames. 
Decide just how many sash you can use 
to advantage, then make the hotbed to 
fit the number of sash you can afford. 
They will perhaps be three feet two 
inches in width by five feet six inches in 
length. This is a convenient size, but 
you can get nearly any desired size. 
Make a bed to fit the number of sash, 
and the cheapest way is to make the 
sides of inch lumber one foot wide, and 
ends of same. Cut four 2x4 corner posts 
12 inches in length, and nail side and 
end boards firmly to the posts. Cut 1x3 
inch strips as long as the bed is wide, 
and let them into the side boards even 
with the top. You will require one less 
than the number of sash, i. e., if you 
have four sash you will require but three 
of these sash supports. They must be 
placed crosswise of the bed (even with 
the top of side boards), at such distance 
apart that the edges of two sash will 
rest upon one support. They are sim¬ 
ply rafters upon which the sash must 
lap and rest edge to edge. Nail a strip 
of the same material on the outer side 
of each end of the bed extending one 
inch above end boards, also a strip along 
one side in same manner. These will 
hold the sash firmly in place and pre¬ 
vent slipping or blowing off. This is 
about the cheapest style of hotbed and 
will answer every ordinary purpose fair¬ 
ly well. The cold frames can be made 
in the same way, and may be covered 
far cheaper than with glass. For these 
covers, take lx2-inch strips, as long as 
the bed is wide. Cut the end strips just 
three feet wide, and halve the corners 
of the frame together and fasten with 
screws or wire lath nails and clinch 
them. Cut a center brace to fit inside 
measure of frame crosswise, and toe¬ 
nail it in. Cover the frames with me¬ 
dium or heavyweight sheeting, or better 
known as muslin in your locality. 
Stretch tightly and tack closely along 
the outer edges of the frame (not on 
top). Paint over with three or four coats 
of the following mixture: Two thor¬ 
oughly beaten eggs to one pint of raw 
linseed oil. Keep this well stirred when 
painting, and allow one coat to dry be¬ 
fore applying another. These will make 
thoroughly reliable cold frame covers, 
and will also answer nicely in ordinary 
work for hotbeds. 
It will give more space for manure, 
and is a good plan to excavate a few 
inches for the hotbed. It is not neces¬ 
sary for either, but better to do so for 
the hotbed. After your hotbed is filled 
with the manure put on the glass or 
cloth covers, and let it remain for two 
or three days. Raise the covers occa¬ 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
sionally to allow the first rank heat to 
pass off, after that it may be sown with 
little danger, but the bed must be aired, 
especially on all bright sunny days. 
There will he no danger of over heat in 
the cold frames as there will be no bot¬ 
tom heat. It must also have plenty of 
air. It will be better to make separate 
beds; I would not advise trying to do 
the work in one. Rich sand loam will 
be best for both beds. Wood soil in part 
will answer, but I think it will be better 
to mix other soil with it, not stiff clay, 
but loamy soil. You would better exca¬ 
vate four to six inches for the hotbed, 
and when you set it, tilt one side so that 
it will stand three or four inches higher 
than the other, to give pitch enough to 
carry off the water. This will give eight 
to 10 inches for the manure, which must 
be well tramped in. Put on three or four 
inches of soil, and in filling, keep both 
soil and manure the same slant as the 
top of the bed. Three or four inches of 
space between soil and glass will answer 
in the hotbed. In the cold frames the 
plants must have good rich soil for 
growth, but they must also have space 
enough to avoid pushing against the 
glass. They should have eight to 10 
inches of space at least. Sow the toma¬ 
to seed in drills, four inches apart, cross¬ 
wise of the bed. When the second set 
of leaves appears, transplant them right 
in the same bed. They will set closely; 
not more than an inch apart. Let them 
remain until six or eight inches high, or 
even more, before transplanting to cold 
frame. It is no detriment if tall before 
set out, but it is a good plan to set the 
plants deeper, say three or four inches, 
than they were in cold frame; then they 
will not whip in the wind so badly. Do 
not fill in soil while growing, simply 
keep free from weeds and stir the soil 
after watering to prevent crusting. I 
usually cut back the leaves and stems 
(not the leaders), considerably when 
transplanting from the hotbed, and also 
when setting in the open ground. A 
shovelful of stable manure applied to 
the hill and mixed in will be a fair quan¬ 
tity. I know of no fertilizer that will 
take the place of good stable manure. 
Almost any of the brands advertised in 
The R. N.-Y. will be helpful either 
broadcast or applied to the rows 600 to 
2,000 pounds per acre as you can afford. 
Salt on vacant land will not be very 
helpful, but lime is nearly always so. I 
would apply it, however, after the Spring 
plowing and work it well into the soil. 
It will be good for the chickweed, or 
rather to rid the land of it, but put it in 
after early Spring plowing also. Open 
Air Vegetables, price 25 cents, and Vege¬ 
table Gardening, price $1.25, are excel¬ 
lent books on trucking. They can be 
furnished by The R. N.-Y. j. e. morse. 
Michigan. 
Cleaning a Kitchen Drain. 
One of our readers wants to know what 
can be used to prevent sewer pipes from 
clogging when greasy dishwater from the 
kitchen empties into them. Pie says that 
nis sewer pipes clog where the kitchen 
water enters and in spite of the use of con¬ 
centrated lye he has been unable to clear 
them except by digging up the pipes. Is 
thre not some substance that will clean 
out the hard, gray mass which forms in 
such pipes? 
This trouble occurs whenever greasy 
dishwater is run directly into a sewer, 
and practically the only remedy after it 
has happened is to dig up the pipe and 
clean it. It may be prevented by run¬ 
ning the kitchen slops through a prop¬ 
erly-constructed grease trap, where the 
grease may be separated from the water 
before it enters the drain pipe. The 
small pipe which leads to this trap can 
be kept clean by frequent flushing with 
hot water. There is not much advantage 
in using concentrated lye. If alkali is 
used it should be quite dilute and used 
hot. The grease trap (Fig. 351) is con¬ 
structed in the ground, outside of the 
house by digging a small well or pit a 
foot or more deeper than the drain pipe. 
The connection between this and the 
sewer should start from near the bottom 
of this well. Water will stand in this 
well up to the level of the sewer and all 
grease from the kitchen will float upon 
the water and not enter the sewer. r rhis 
well may be easily cleaned, as occasion 
requires. The trap is best constructed 
of brick, plastered with cement. It is 
made in the form shown in sketch. It 
should have a tight cover. 
Wis. Exp. Station. s. m. babcock. 
1 know of no way to prevent drain 
pipes from clogging from the kitchen 
waste where only a small amount of 
water is used, so that the pipes are not 
thoroughly flushed. I have had trouble 
with the drains from my own sink down 
to the point where they join the pipes 
from the bathroom, and have been ob¬ 
liged to arrange so as to clear them me¬ 
chanically by pushing a jointea iron rod 
through the pipe. For this purpose I 
have had the sink spout joined on to 
the sewer pipe at right angles with an 
opening in the sewer pipe into the cel¬ 
lar, the end of which is ordinarily closed 
by a screw plug. By removing this plug 
the jointed iron rod can be forced in 
down to the junction to main sewer 
pipe (about 60 feet), and with the open¬ 
ing thus made a liberal flushing with 
water will completely clear the pipe. 
This, however, only gives temporary re¬ 
lief for a year or so. I know of no 
chemical treatment that will clear 
pipes; of course strong lye will help. 
Maine Exp. Station, chas. d. woods. 
New Style Greenhouse. 
The newest idea in greenhouse con¬ 
struction is a combination of galvanized 
iron and concrete. All walls are of con¬ 
crete, and all rafters of iron. There is 
a tendency to build much larger rose 
houses, 400x53 feet being favored. Such 
a house has no gutters, the iron rafters 
eurving down at the side, so as to carry 
off the drip, the last row of glass curv¬ 
ing likewise to meet the side wall. These 
large houses must necessarily he heated 
by steam. A rose house of this type of 
the size named can be cared for by four 
men, and costs complete with heating 
about $15,000. 
Borers and Hunters.—I have found It 
a good way to protect apple trees from 
borers to keep a mound of subsoil or bet 
ter still clean sand well up and closelv 
packed around the tree trunk. Always In 
digging holes for trees we throw the soil 
In one heap and the subsoil In another, 
pack the former in among the roots, and 
finish up with the latter. With large trees 
that have been attacked by borers we treat 
with chisel and wire as well as we can, 
and then haul a good cartload of clean 
clay or sand and bank up well, and we are 
pretty sure of saving them. Nothing can 
be worse than to pack chip dirt, ashes or 
other light material immediately around 
an apple tree. The beetle that lays the 
egg of the borer seems to delight in some¬ 
thing soft and spongy in which to hide. 
Rabbits give us no trouble. It is the fel¬ 
lows with dogs that are after them that 
we dread. w. t. s. 
Uwchland, Fa. _ 
For the land’s sake, use Bowker’s Fer¬ 
tilizers. They enrich the earth.— Adv. 
If Page Fence 
Isn't really a betterfenee, then we are mistaken. 
The material, and the labor on It, cost more, and 
we candidly believe i t Is better and lasts longer. 
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BoxD92 Muncie, Indiana. 
GOOD 
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SENSE 
will teach you that 
coffee in an air-tight, 
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purer, cleaner and 
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kept in open bins. 
LION COFFEE 
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The EMPIRE 
The Easy Ri nnlng Kind. 
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' BLOOMFIELD. N. J. 
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PALMER GASOLINE ENGINE 
Three-horse, price $100. Will saw- 
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thrasher, cream separator, grind 
feed, and do all kinds of farm work. 
Ten gallons of gasoline has cut dll 
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Sizes up to 15 Horse Power. 
Send for Catalogue R. 
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WILSON’S 
New Green Bone , Shell 
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for the Poultryman. 
Also llone Mills for making phos¬ 
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the farmer, from 1 to 10 horse¬ 
power. Farm Feed Mills grind 
fine, fast and easy. Send for circulars. 
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Free for a Club of Four • 
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