AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
71 
1883 .] 
Hot-Beds and Cold Frames. 
BY DR. A. OEMLER, OF GEORGIA. 
The material most frequently used for the 
formation of hot-beds, when a considerable 
degree of heat is required, is stable manure, 
that of well-fed horses being the most effec¬ 
tive. When a lower temperature suffices, a 
steady heat may be obtained by mixing vege¬ 
table matter, like leaves, spent tan-bark, etc., 
with the stable manure. The manure, with¬ 
out too much long litter, should be thrown 
from the stables into a conical heap, and 
kept moist four or five days, when it should be 
turned over. After the lapse of four or more 
days, according to the season, it will have 
acquired a steady heat, and be ready for use. 
The site for a hot-bed or cold frame should 
be on sandy or gravelly, or well drained soil, 
convenient to water, well protected from 
north and north-west winds, not only free 
from overhanging trees and the shade of 
houses, but open to the sun from its rising to 
its setting. Unless the aspect of the. bed be 
a point or two eastward of the south, the 
plants growing at the eastern end will be 
dwindled by the shade of the frame. The 
site having been chosen, the manure is placed 
either on the surface, or in an excavation 
about six inches deep, in the shape of a solid 
parallelogram, extending in length and 
breadth one foot beyond the dimensions of 
the frame to be placed upon it. The frame 
should be as wide as the length of the sash, 
and its length will be determined by the 
number of sashes. No bed should be con¬ 
structed, if avoidable, for less than four 
“ lights,” and the longer it is, the more heat 
will be developed, and the more in amount 
will be retained. 
If the site is exposed to high winds, yellow 
is preferable to white pine for the sash, in 
consequence of its greater weight. The sash 
should be three by six feet, with glass not 
larger than eight by ten. The smaller the 
glass, the less expensive the breaks. The 
panes are to be puttied to the sash, and to 
overlap each other like shingles. As dust 
collects between the laps and obstructs the 
light, these should not be more than one- 
fourth of an inch wide. Such is a hot-bed. 
The site, the frame, and the sash for a cold 
frame are as above described. The differ¬ 
ence between the two is solely, that the 
former is heated by fermenting material, 
which creates “bottom heat,” while the lat¬ 
ter is warmed by the confined heat of the 
sun alone. 
For a cold frame, the soil should be eleva¬ 
ted six inches above the general level, and 
finely spaded up and raked. Glass is the 
proper material for sash, and the cheapest 
in the end. Frames covered with cotton 
cloth may be used as a substitute, however. 
To render the cloth more translucent, the 
following ingredients may be used: one quart 
pale linseed oil, four ounces resin, and one 
ounce sugar of lead. The sugar of lead 
should be ground with a little of the oil, 
then the remainder of the oil and resin 
should be added, and the varnish applied 
with a wide brush while warm. 
The following directions apply to the cold 
frame alone: According to the nature and 
size of the seed, and the character of the soil, 
the seeds are to be sown from a quarter of 
an inch to an inch deep, in drills three or 
four inches apart across the bed, and more 
t hinl y at the back and front, than near the 
middle of the bed. Each variety should be 
sown in separate cold frames, or, when not 
practicable, only such should be sown to¬ 
gether as require about the same degree of 
heat to germinate, and particularly such as 
demand the same management and protec¬ 
tion, until the plants are removed. 
Good Old Flowers.—The Wallflower. 
One need not be very old to have seen bril¬ 
liant, quick-growing novelties in flowers, 
crowd out of sight many of the old-estab¬ 
lished favorites of the garden. Who now 
sees a bed of Rocket Larkspurs? Where 
shall we find a collection of the old Stock 
Gilliflowers, so beautiful and so sweet ? These 
and many others have disappeared, one after 
another, before verbenas, geraniums, and 
others, the only merit of which is that they 
are showy. We are old-fashioned enough to 
think that beauty and goodness are not in¬ 
compatible, and that we need not the less 
admire a flower because it is fragrant. A 
child with a strange flower, first looks at it, 
and then carries it to its nose. It has not yet 
learned the beauties of “ ribbon” or “ Mosaic 
planting.” How few young persons would 
recognize it, if shown the Wallflower—so be¬ 
loved of their grandmothers? This old fa¬ 
vorite, which brought in the spring with 
richness of color and a wondrous fragrance, 
has gone—and what replaces it ? In the hope 
of renewing an interest in these old favorites, 
we suggest to those not quite given over to 
gardening fashions, but who grow flowers 
because they are flowers, and they love them, 
and not because they will help to make up a 
red or a blue patch in a design, to restore the 
Wallflower to its old place. As young people 
of the present day know it only by name, we 
give an engraving of a fine single specimen; 
there are also double kinds, which some pre¬ 
fer to the single. The Wallflower is a native 
of Europe, and so called because there it 
grows upon ruins and in the crevices of old 
walls. It was originally yellow, but cultiva¬ 
tion has given us flowers with orange, red¬ 
dish brown, and violet markings. In Europe, 
it is a hardy perennial; with us, in the 
Northern States, it is barely hardy, and must 
be put under cover in winter. Seeds sown 
this spring will afford plants which will 
flower the year following. They should be 
potted singly, and at the approach of severe 
weather be placed in a pit, a cool green¬ 
house, or in a dry cellar, to be brought out in 
early spring. We hope that the coming gen¬ 
eration of flower-lovers will not let these 
good old plants quite die out. Let them try 
the Wallflower, and they will agree with old 
Parkinson, who, more than two centuries 
ago, wrote: “The sweetnesse of the flowers 
causeth them to be generally used in nose¬ 
gay es, and to deck up houses.” 
The Treatment of Bulbs. 
After my hyacinths, etc., have done flower¬ 
ing, I cut off the flower-stalks, and as the beds 
are needed, the bulbs are carefully lifted and 
placed in a spare bed, where they remain 
until the leaves have withered. The dead 
leaver and rootlets are removed with a sharp 
knife, and the bulbs packed in a box with 
layers of dry sand, are kept in a cool place 
until planting time next autumn. When 
the bulbs are removed from the bed where 
they bloomed, I am careful to remove all 
the “ seed bulbs,” or the offsets of small 
bulbs, more or less of which will be found 
attached to the base of the old one. These 
small bulbs I plant in a separate bed, and 
in three or four years, they grow to be of 
good flowering size. The first year, I plant 
these “ seed bulbs” rather shallow and close 
together, in order that the young leaves may 
support one another. The second year, they 
are planted about six inches apart, and four 
or five inches deep. If flower stalks appear, 
they are cut off, in order to strengthen the 
bulb. I find that by giving a little care to 
these seed-bulbs, I am enabled to keep up my 
stock. I would suggest that bulbs that 
have flowered in pots should be treated in 
the same manner. When the flower-stalk has 
been cut away, water is gradually withheld, 
and when the leaves fade, the bulbs are 
treated in the same manner as those taken 
from the bed. Bulbs which have not been 
strongly forced, but have bloomed, will be 
useful if properly cared for. L. S. 
Useful and Ornamental. —Beets with 
leaves of the most brilliant crimson and the 
richest yellow, have been proposed for orna¬ 
mental planting. Singularly beautiful in the 
cutting and fringing of their leaves, as well 
as in a variety of delicate colorings, are the 
ornamental Kales. But neither these nor the 
beets have been much used in ornamental 
grounds. There seems to be something in¬ 
congruous in plants coming under the two 
heads: useful and ornamental. A lawn orna¬ 
ment should not suggest “ bacon and greens.” 
