HOUSE AND GARDEN 
March, 
1914 
good deal of cold, even several degrees of frost, without being 
injured in the slightest; and second, as a corollarv to this, that 
temporary frames and covering may be used for these things for 
part of the time before they are ready to go out into the open 
ground, thus relieving the over¬ 
crowded condition of the perma¬ 
nent frames, making them avail¬ 
able for other purposes. 
Let us start, then, with our 
equipment of a five-sash frame. 
It is very desirable that at least 
two of these shall be of the 
“double-glass” type, especially if 
one has not the facilities for 
making a hotbed in two of the 
frames. But you should make 
every effort to get enough ma¬ 
nure to put in at least two of 
the frames. Let it make no dif¬ 
ference even if some of vour 
neighbors have already made 
their hotbeds, and others sav that it has got warm enough so that 
one is not needed. It is not merely a question of keeping the 
plants from freezing, but of keeping them growing during the 
night, as well as 
the day, and as 
we shall want to 
start some of the 
“warm - blooded" 
things like toma¬ 
toes at once, in¬ 
stead of waiting a 
little longer, as 
some of your 
neighbors will, let 
your first job be 
to get manure at 
once, a 11 d p u t 
“heat” into the 
first two frames, 
which, to make 
directions as brief 
and definite as 
possible, I have 
marked “A” on 
the diagram on 
page 210. 
The manure should be in an active 
state of decomposition, but not "fire- 
fanged" or burned out, and free from 
coarse straw or litter. Lhfiess it is 
alreadv heated through evenly you 
should stack it and turn it over after 
three or four days, turning it inside out 
so that the whole will become evenly 
heated through. Remove two or three 
inches of the soil from the frames, 
tramp in a foot or more of the manure, 
and put the soil back. Put up a parti¬ 
tion of light boarding — a couple of 
cracker boxes from the grocers will fur¬ 
nish you with the material — so that the 
hotbed may be kept warmer than the 
rest of the frame. If you have manure 
and double-glass sash both for the 
frames, so much the better; but in case 
you have not the latter, be sure to have mats or shutters with which 
to cover the sash on cold nights, as otherwise much of the heat 
which should go to maintaining a high temperature within the 
frame will be lost in radiation from the glass, even when there is 
no danger of a freeze outside. 
The soil in the rest of the 
frames should, of course, be 
made rich and mellow as soon as 
it is ready to work. Fine, well- 
rotted manure, or bone dust or 
tankage, and muriate or sul¬ 
phate of potash, are good for 
this purpose, as they are all quick 
acting, with little danger of 
burning seedlings or plants. 
The next task is to provide 
your auxiliary frames and sash. 
Of course, if you have room and 
time it is best to make these ex¬ 
tra frames substantial and per¬ 
manent. But if not, they may be 
cheaply and easily constructed by putting in two rows of posts and 
boarding up to the proper height in back and front; or if you want 
to make them so that they can be put up and taken down easily, 
simply get 15 ft. 
of 12 or 15 inch 
board or plank 
for the back, 
and the s a me 
length, 6 or 9 
inches wide, for 
the front. If 
there is the side 
of a house or out¬ 
building w h i c h 
will serve as the 
north wall of the 
fra m e, simply 
nail a cleat of 2 
x 4 pine along at 
the proper height 
from the ground, 
on which to rest 
the upper end of 
the sash, so you 
will have only the 
front side of the 
frame to build. The sash for these 
extra frames are very cheaply made. A 
light, wooden frame of 1 x 2 inch stuff, 
the size of a standard sash, 3x6 ft., 
you can readily make yourself or order 
from your carpenter. They will cost 
from 30 to 50 cents apiece, according to 
material and local prices. Dry cypress 
is the best wood to use, but pine or other 
material will do. These frames are cov¬ 
ered with “plant-cloth:“ the heavy 
grade, which most large seed-houses 
carry, costs 12 cents or so a yard. Each 
frame'' will require two yards of the 
cloth, which should be stretched tightly 
and tacked firmly to the frame, putting 
the tacks not more than two inches or 
so apart. If handled with care these 
(Continued on page 209) 
Frames made of cement are impervious to moisture and will last for years 
The construction is simple. A wooden “mold" is made, into which the cement is poured and allowed to harden 
The manure should be turned over several times before use 
and stacked to avoid the danger of overheating 
