The Portland daily press., 1878-02-18
Starting Hot Beds.

The latter part of FEBRUARY is the time to
start seeds for early lettuce for field planting !;
as also of early cabbages and tomatoes. II
the plank have been put down there will be
little difficulty now in starting bed in good
shape. Dig out the loan for a depth of two
feet from the top of the plank. put in ten or
twelve inches of good, fresh horse dung, and
over it four or six inches OF loan and put on
the glass, mats and shutters. If the sun
shines the mats and shutters should be tax
en- off at noon for three or four hours daily
and the glass kept closed until the heat rises,
which will usually be in two or three days.
If little sand can be had, spread on half an
inch in depth over the bed and rake it in; it
will make 1.-THE fbrous roots of the young
plants separate more easily in tansplanting.
Chen pat down the surface smooth with a
small piece of board and SOW the seeds by
hand as evenly as possible. Cover by hand
by sprinkling sifted loan over the seed, just
enough to cover it about one-sixteenth OF an
inch. 1t may seem to the novice that this is
taking good deal of unnecessary pains; but
1t is really the best way to take a good deal
of pains in order to be sure of having the
seeds terminate quickly and evenly.
The bed will need some watching; if the
manure heats up strongly it will need airing
both night and day unless the weather is
vSiy sCNClCs 4aClC 10 luOIC uduSCI vi spur
ing seeds with too much heat than with too
little, especially of lettuce and cabbage To-
matoes, however, will bear and Ecquire
warmer bed than the hardy plants, and there
fore it is better to partition off the tomato
bed from the other plants so as to be able to
air it independently,
Tomato seed is usually sown Feb. Goth. but
If the first sowing fail, they will do often
quite as well sown as late as March LIST.
In about three weeks after sowing the bed
must be prepared for transplanting the young
plants. The cabbage and the lettuce will do
well on an ''old heat" that is on an old bed
from which crop OF hot bed lettuce or rad
ishes has just been sold, and it will only be
needful to clear off the weeds and fork over
the surface and rake it smooth before trans
planting; if new bed is to be made in March
for transplanting these hardy plants, do not
use too much 'heat." Eight inches of good
manure covered with six inches of loan is
about right, and air them well.
The young tomato plants, however, are
more tender, and will need a fresh heat of
about ten inches of manure covered with five
inches of loan. Keep the beds well watered;
water in the afternoon with water of tenn.
perature of about TOE land put ON enough to
wet down thoroughly; cold water at tenn
perature of 400 or less is not good for tender
plants. The bed should be aired little
every day II 1t can be done without danger of
freezing, and if the manure works hot they
should be aired a little all night in mild
weather.
To run hot beds requires a good deal of at
tention as we'll as experience, but it is pleas
emit work to those who love to see things
growing early, and there is good deal Of
friendly rivalry among the market men to
see who will get into market first with his
early crops, and who will raise the best
plants.
One of the pleasantest things about the hot
bed is to see the focks OF chick-a dees and
the other winter songesters cluster around
the straw mats in the shelter of the friendly
fence, and pick up the stray grains of rye that
shake out of the mats; hunger makes them
very tame at this season of the year, and as
they are quite harmless, they are always
welcome.-"W. d. Pr in Mass. Plough-
man.