24 
A KITCHEN GARDEN 
will help to keep it warm and will make a bank to 
drain away any surface water, which, being very cold 
in the spring, would, if allowed to penetrate the bed, 
tend to chill the heat of the fermenting manure, and 
consequently check the growth of the young and 
tender plants, even if it did not generate that great 
enemy of all young plants, fungus or mildew, 
causing them to rot or “ damp off.” 
©ROUND LEVEL 
Illustration showing the manner of constructing a hotbed above the surface of 
the ground. 
Or, if there is plenty of fresh stable manure at 
hand, it can be corded in a pile two feet high and 
extending a foot wider than the sash frame on all 
sides; and when the frame has been put in position 
on the heap, the manure should be carried up on the 
outside nearly to the top of the boards, making a warm 
jacket for the plants within. A portable frame of 
boards is made for the sash to rest on, twelve inches 
