HOUSE AND GARDEN 
152 
March, 1911 
You can knock together a plank frame, buy two or three sash and 
plant a lot of flower and vegetable seeds now, that will bring plants 
into bearing and bloom ahead of your neighbor’s 
Transplanting seedlings from the flats in which they were started to 
a coldframe, in which they may be “hardened off,” and later trans¬ 
planted to the open 
the seeds early we can have large stocky plants to set out just 
when our neighbor may be planting his seeds. Every day that 
we gain over him will count on the other end of the season when 
bearing time comes. 
The difference between a hotbed and a coldframe is this : Cold- 
frames are warmed only by the sun ; hotbeds are artificially heated 
by the fermentation of an under layer of fresh stable manure 
mixed with leaves. The frames themselves are practically the 
same structurally, except that usually a coldframe simply rests on 
the surface of the ground and may be moved from place to place, 
while a hotbed is a more permanent structure, with a subframe 
extending into the ground to keep the heat in and the cold, moles, 
vermin and other things out. 
The makers of greenhouses and sash have made it very simple 
for anyone to have a coldframe. They are shipped, “knocked 
down,” and can be set up and nailed together with very little 
trouble. The sash for coldframes and hotbeds cost about $3.50 
each, and the frame itself can either be made at home by anyone 
who is handy with tools, or it can be bought quite reasonably—a 
frame for two sash costing $7.50, with $1.50 extra to be added 
for each additional sash. The standard size of hotbed sash has 
by convention come to be three feet by six, although of course 
any size of sash may be used. 
The frame for hotbeds should be located to face the south or 
southeast, with a building or fence on the north to shelter it from 
the cold winds. 
While a coldframe may be moved from place to place, it is 
better to decide upon a permanent location and to build it so that 
it may also be used as a hotbed if we desire. In this case the sub- 
frame will make it impracticable to move it after it is once set up. 
The sides of coldframes are usually of wood but they may also 
be made of brick 
or concrete. The 
latter is very satis- 
factory and of 
course will never 
rot away. In mak¬ 
ing a concrete hot¬ 
bed, first dig a pit 
or trench about 
three feet deep and 
of the proper size 
to hold the sash. 
As the entire inter¬ 
ior of the hotbed 
will have to be ex¬ 
cavated to a depth 
of three feet to put 
in the layer of 
green manure, all the excavating may as well be done at this time. 
To make the sides, wooden forms will be necessary. The usual 
method is to use rough hemlock, 1 x 10 in. A 12-foot board will 
cut to advantage in making the inside form and a 14-foot board 
for the outside. 
The usual method for working in concrete should be followed, 
making a mixture of one part of Portland cement to three parts 
of sand. Fill up the form with an aggregate of broken stone or 
cinders and "grout” it with liquid cement mixture. The board 
form above ground should be carefully made to insure a neat 
job. and a slope should be provided, making the frame say a 
foot above ground in the front and eighteen inches in the back. 
The corners of the frame should be reinforced with pieces of 
old wire or angle irons imbedded in the concrete. 
For the hotbed, you will dig out a pit at least three feet deep. 
Into this a layer of fresh stable manure and leaves is placed 
which, however, has previously been thoroughly mixed and left 
outside in a heap to work off its surplus heat. The temperature 
of fresh manure that is fermenting will sometimes run up to 120 
degrees, which of course is much too hot for growing plants. 
For this reason it is well to allow the mixture of manure and 
leaves to cool for several days. After a time a temperature of 
about 90 degrees can be maintained with very little difficulty. 
The manure must be thoroughly packed as it is placed in the 
pit by tramping on it, adding manure until you have a depth of 
two feet or more. The packing is very important. When the 
required depth is obtained, put on a nine-inch layer of finely 
pulverized soil which is raked smooth and leveled with a board. 
The figures show the sizes of the various parts and their proper rela¬ 
tion for a frame to hold the standard 3 x 6 ft. sash 
If you build a permanent structure to sup¬ 
port the sash you can use it in the early 
spring as a hotbed and throughout the 
winter as a coldframe 
