342 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
February 2. 
liad hotter not be more tlmn five or six feet wide ; the 
height of three feet will probably do at this season. 
When this is done, procure some deals or rough slabs, 
and fix them edge-ways up all around the top of it, 
securing them at the corners to each other; and, if 
necessary, at one or two places in the middle, partition 
pins might be laid across, acting in the capacity of tie 
beams, by the sides being fastened to them. This being 
done, some contrivance must also be adopted witli a 
view to support the covering that will be necessary to 
put upon this bed; one of the best being a waterproof 
oil cloth, or something that way, to support which a 
rail had better be carried along the centre, about two 
feet higher than the tops of these boards ; this rail to 
be secured by posts driven into the bed, &c., and, if 
necessary, short pieces might ho laid from the sides to 
it, in the manner of the rafters of a building, and it will 
easily be seen that over this, mats, or any other covering | 
of that kind, might easily be thrown at any time. 
From this it will easily be seen that a great amount 
of exposure must take place when light is wanted, con¬ 
sequently, very tender products must not be expected to 
thrive here ; but, in fact, such delicate things as Cucum¬ 
bers, and many other tender seedlings, ought to have 
some more, suitable place, but as a succession of young 
Potatoes is no less necessary than Cucumbers, and a 
handful of Radishes a month or so before their natural 
season out-of-doors is often as much esteemed as a 
handful of flowers, it follows that any easy means of 
obtaining these must be worth the little labour they 
cost. Young Carrots, too, are esteemed a luxury at a 
season when the old ones are no longer palatable, and, 
by a similar contrivance to the above, their presence ! 
may be commanded some time before those in the open 
air come into use, and, what is equally important, in 
quite as good a condition as these are when of the 
same size. 
If no preparations havo been made by the amateur by 
the time these pages will reach him in the way of 
making such beds, no time must now be lost, and let 
the soil be at once put on, and the seed sown, or if for 
Potatoes, let them ho planted : it is not much advantage 
to have them in the growing condition, which they often 
are prior to putting into a frame closely covered with 
glass, for in this latter ease the warmth and shelter 
afforded is sufficient to maintain them in that growing 
state in which they have been before their final planting; 
whereas, to take up Potatoes which havo made some 
progress from a warm floor, or bed, and remove them 
out-of-doors to where the only heat they have is a little 
at the bottom, subjects them to a check, which throws 
them farther back than those not started at all; how¬ 
ever, a little sprouting at the eyes will do no harm, and 
in planting such make-shift beds it is advisable to use 
larger Potatoes for seed than for out-door planting 
generally. 
When circumstances will admit of it, great advantage 
accrues from having the soil required for such beds in 
as dry and mellow a condition ns possible; this may 
easily be effected when there are means for that purpose, 
as shed room, &c. It is also proper to observe that a 
very rich soil is not absolutely necessary for the pur¬ 
pose, although it must not be a poor or exhausted ono, j 
and for the Carrots a considerable quantity of sand, or 
other opening matter ought to bo added, for this root is 
not benefited by much dung or other enriching sub¬ 
stance of that kind. Radishes may be treated more 
j liberally, perhaps, but the principal agents of success 
are in other causes, and one of the most important is 
the total seclusion of that cold harsh air so baneful to 
vegetation in the spring. If this can be accomplished 
without shutting out entirely light from the plant, then 
the object is gained; but as that cannot well be effected 
| without glass, means must bo taken to partially admit 
the light, while a part of the covering remains on, or 
rather while some temporary covering is taking the 
, place of the principal one. Oiled calico will do better 
than a dark body, or paper similarly prepared will 
answer equally well, Duly is not so durable, and requires 
a stretching frame, or something that way to support it 
on ; but these things will easily suggest themselves to 
the operator ; suffice it here to say, that anything that 
will 'admit the light, and check the coldness of the 
atmosphere, when the cast wind is parching everything 
up, must be beneficial; only let it be borne in mind, 
that in as far as Radishes are concerned, a larger space 
of full exposure must be made, otherwise the plant will 
be nothing but top, or, what is equally bad, a long, useless 
neck. Carrots aro more hardy, and as the seed is along 
time in germinating, it is not necessary for the bed to 
have much light during the early part of this process; 
however, they must have light before they make their 
appearance, otherwise they will lack that robust sturdy- 
ness so necessary to their well-being afterwards. 
It is almost needless pointing out the many purposes 
to which such beds may be adapted. A patch of Cauli¬ 
flower and Lettuce seed, sown in such a place, furnishes 
plants long before tbe same kinds could be had 
in the ordinary way of out-door sowing; and it not 
(infrequently happens that the stock of autumn-sown of 
these things sutlers much in a severe winter like the pre¬ 
sent; hence the necessity of replacing as many as pos¬ 
sible. I may also observe, that French Beans do very 
well on a bed so treated, only they must be somewhat 
later, as their tropical origin ill fits them to endure the 
cold blasts so common in our springs; but of this I may 
probably speak hereafter. Nevertheless, many things 
might be sown here which are wanted in small quanti¬ 
ties ; and a little later, such a bed will be famous 
for raising annual flowers to plant out in the parterre 
and elsewhere ; in fact, the uses of such a bed are mani¬ 
fold ; and as tho season is at band wherein every inch of 
glass will be hard at work in the rearing and protecting 
things more tender or valuable, it behoves the careful 
cultivator to make the most of the means at his dis¬ 
posal ; and if the common objects can be effected in a 
homely way, the mode in which that is done reflects 
more credit upon him than when a more expensive sys¬ 
tem has been at work; and as many residences in tbe 
vicinity of London can command hot stable-dung in 
any quantity, and as many country places abound in 
leaves in an almost equally unlimitable extent, 1 advise 
each party to adopt a free use of each material; for 
whatever may be the merits of hot-water pipes and tanks, 
even when arranged in the most complete way, the day has 
not yet arrived when the old-fashioned dung-bed has to be 
driven out of use ; although, in every fresh invention of 
tho iron-and-water system, a threat is held out that the 
doom of all fermenting materials is sealed; but, somehow, 
the dung-bed yet rears its bumble head annually in the 
back grounds as of yore; and though it would bo unjust 
to affirm its produce in every respect came as early as 
that furnished by a well-regulated system of hot-water 
or other mode of applying fire-heat, yet it is much to be 
questioned whether any mode is more congenial to vege¬ 
tation when that does show itself. And the results of 
horticultural shows in the summer months present as 
many good examples of Melon culture under the old- 
fashioned system as under tho new, and tho nspect of 
the foliage of things growing there fully corroborates 
that view—of course, taking the management into consi¬ 
deration likewise. But as far as that is concerned, the 
management of a plant, when luxuriating in the genial 
warmth conveyed by well-prepared fermenting materials, 
is an easy matter when the top or foliage of the plant is 
allowed to partake likewise of its exhilirating influence; 
but in the description of rough, half-exposed, beds, which 
this chapter has been devoted to, the kindly influence of 
