SUCCESSFUL GARDENING 
(Continued from page 5) 
Construction is not expensive or difficult. It is well to plan unit 
sizes which are generally six feet long and three feet wide since 
regular hotbed sash comes in three by six feet size. If sash is not 
available locally, write and we will tell you where this can be pur- 
chased. The frame can be built for one or more sash as needed. 
Use good lumber, making the north side 12 inches high and sloping 
to 8 inches high on the south. One by four, or two by four pieces 
should be fitted flatwise across the inside of the frame flush at the 
top to form a joint between the sash and properly support them, or 
better still use grooved slides for this purpose. 
The pit should be dug about two feet deep, six feet wide and as 
long as needed for the size bed desired. In districts where rainfall 
is light, boarding up the sides of the pit is unnecessary. The pit 
should always be in a well drained location. 
The best heating material that is available is fresh horse manure 
containing a liberal quantity of straw bedding. What is wanted in 
the hotbed is a steady but moderate lasting heat. To secure this, 
the manure should be forked over, shaken apart and if dry, watered 
and allowed to begin heating the second time. The object being to 
get the whole mass into a uniform degree of fermentation. As soon 
as this is accomplished it is fit for use. When filling the pit, care- 
fully spread each forkful of manure, treading it down so as to make 
the bed as uniform as possible in solidity, composition and moisture. 
Good garden soil should be filled in, as shown in the accompanying 
illustration, to a depth of 4 to 6 inches. Soon fermentation will start 
and an excessive heat will prevail for about a week. If seeds are 
planted at once this higssth temperature may be disastrous. 
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The essentials for success are a steady uniform degree of heat and 
moisture. In colder climates it is well to bank up with soil around 
the outside of the frame to make it air tight. 
PLANTING Tomato and pepper seed may be planted in three or 
THE BEDS four inch rows, spacing the seed about four to six 
to the inch. Planted in this manner one ounce will 
sow about ten to twelve feet of hotbed that is six feet wide. We 
suggest that the seed be treated with Semesan or Cuprocide before 
planting. If the plants “damp off” in the beds they may be sprayed 
with a solution of Semesan or Cuprocide as instructed on the pack- 
age. These can be purchased through your local drugstore. 
On page 76 you will find suggestions regarding the watering and 
ventilation of the bed, also hardening off of the plants. 
COLD FRAMES Same directions as for the hotbed except that no 
pit is dug or heating material is used. In colder 
climates, plants cannot be started so early; wait until the sun gives 
more warmth. During extremely cold weather it is a good plan to 
scatter straw over the sash to a depth of about one foot. This should 
be done each night or during cloudy weather, removing the straw 
during the sunlit hours. 
STARTING PLANTS If you will turn to page 119 you 
INDOORS AND IN FLATS will find under the article “Growing 
Flowers from Seed’’ some informa- 
tion about starting plants in flats. 
COMBATING INSECTS Each year after harvest, clean up all 
AND WORMS refuse left by the crop. Burn all weeds 
and rubbish, if any, in the fence rows 
and corners. Fall plough as this will help destroy eggs or insects 
harbored in the soil. These are preventive measures. When insects 
(Continued on page 7) 
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6 D. V. Burrell Seed Growers Co., Rocky Ford, Colo. 
