Columbia democrat and star of the north. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1867, 1867-02-13
AGRICULTURAL.
Hot RedEHOvv NTade.


Farmer, Ike other people, are fond Of
early vegetables. BUTT is too generally the
cases that they neglect to raise them Peo
pie in the city viii have the earliest to be OBJ
tanned and arewiIling to pay exorbitant pric :.
for them.
Farmers could raise, even in the hot bed,
the earliest vegetables, at very little cost
The hot bed requires attention early in the
season, when there isbut little other work
on hand, and consequently could be attended
to about as well asnot. We propose to IN.
form our readers how they are made
Selection Of Ground. The ground upon
which q hot bed should be made, should
have ssoutherly or southeasterly Inciiila-
ton It should be fully exposed to the s'l"
audout Of the shade of trees building &c, g;
A dry place Is preferable-where water WIZ
not stand In pits one or two feet IN depth'
after rain.
THe Frame and Sdsh.-The frame or box
which supports the sash is generally apJ"' %
four and a half or FIVE feet wlde' ana may u
made 70 anv desired length. The frames are
cone-ollv made SO as to be covered with
from three to five sashes, each sasn Delng
a,a,ooo,nlvabout four inches wide, and four
and = half or FIVE feet long. The frame may
he made of inch plank-the side exposed to
shs north being six or eight inches highes
tho, the southerIy side, so as to have proper
slope to the sun.
SG'be smallest sized glass should be used in
Ze sash-certainly not larger than seven by
nine. The smaller the size the better, as
small pane of glass is not so liable to be bro
as large one and can be more cheaply le-
paired. No cross bars are used in the sash
the panes overlapping each other about
quarter of an inch, like the shinklcs Of
house, and resting on bars that run length
wise, of each sash, just the right width for
the panes to rest on two bars. The bars
upon which the panes of glass rest should
be an inch and half or two inches wide.
Preparation of the Bc1s.-lt is a good
plan to dig pit from one to two feet deep
where the bed is to be made, although tins
is not always done. Over this pit must be
placed the frame. Now fill in halffldl with
some fresh horse stable manure which has
not been exposed to the rains, and which,
within the last two weeks, has been turned
over two or three times. If the manure Is
rather dry, water should be sprinkled upon
il. The sashes of glass may now be placed
uuon the bed frame and the bed left for about
II hours, when air should be given 1t and 1t
should be closed again. In three or four
days the soil may be put on this bed of M;
nssfe. Fine garden mould should be used
and it should he spread to the depth Of SIX
or eight inches evenly over the bed. In one
or two days the seed may be sown. If sown
as soon as the soil is put on, the soil is said
to burn so as to destroy the germo of the seed.
Therefore air should be given to the bed
once or twice before the seed is sown. After
the seed is sown the bed should be spr1nk-
led with water from the watering pot daily
till the plants appear Air should be given
daiiv when the weather will permit so as to
make the plants strong and harday. The
bed should be kept at the temperature OF
about sixty degrees. The outside OF the
frame should be banked up with manure so
as to keep the bed warm In cold freezing
weather the beds will need to be protected
by being covered with mats or straw 1Gt
ley Farmer.
.