Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1883-03-12
agricultural department.
THE HOT-BED.


because one may have vegetables
earlier and more of them through the |
stimulating influence of the former.
In all cases from one to two months |
may be gained by this means. In
most parts of the country it is time
to prepare the bed, and will soon be
time to SOW the seeds. We have re-
peatedly given, in the closing winter
or opening spring, particular direc-
tions for its preparation, and now
take the following from the Ohio
Farmer.
ssSome gardeners make hot-beds
by building mound of manure on
top of the ground, but | prefer a pit,
as 1 think it holds moisture better.
Select place where the ground lies
fair to the sun and slopes to the
south and east. The north side of
the garden, if the ground lies right,
is very good place. The fence OPP
posite the hot-bed should be six feet
high and made tight to keep the cold
wind off. The pit should be three
feet wide, fifteen inches deep, and
as long as the needs of the gardener
may require. After the pit is dug,
it should be filled full of fresh horse
manure we'll mixed with straw, or,
better still, forest leaves, which
should be put under the horses and
tramped well into the manure. In
filing, shake the manure up well as
it is forked into the pit, and then
tramp solid as soon as you have six
inches deep in the pit; continue in
this way until you have the manure
several inches above the level of the
| ground, then make frame of inch
boards, three feet wide and ten inches
deep on the front side and sixteen
inches on the back side; set the
frame over the manure, and fill up
outside with the dirt taken out of the
pit, nearly to the top of the frame
all around. Then if the manure was
pretty dry, pour on several pals of
warm water and cover with the glass
right away, and leave it two or three
days, till the heat begins to subside,
then cover with soil six inches deep.
This soil should be rich and mellow,
and dry enough to crumble easily
Then in few hours, if the sun shines,
your bed will be ready to plant
''If you have large hot-bed you
may begin by sowing lettuce and
radishes and some other hardy plants,
as early as the 10th of March, or
earlier if the weather is moderate
Cabbage and caulifower may also be
sown at the same time, but should
be transplanted into cold frame by
the middle of April. If you wish
you can SOW beet seed as soon as the
25th of March, and transplant the
same as cabbage. Tomatoes anC
= other tender plants should not b.
! sown till about six weeks before i
e is safe to transplant to the opel
= ground. If you wish to raise sweet
1t potato plants, the tubers should b
covered with a mixture of gardel
soil and sand to the depth of an inc
N or so, and in few days the plant
e will begin to show. They shout
not be planted much before the frs
If of April, or the plants will get to
large before it is safe to transplar
u them"
ID A substitute for hot-bed may b
It, found in planting seeds in boxes il
ly doors at any time in the month {
il. March. The boxes should be file
" with good rich soil, kept warm /
IA artificial heat if necessary, and place
ge where it is practicable, in the sui
r. light near the window. Very sma
-. pots in boxes are still better, becau
er the plants, when of sufficient growt
and when the season becomes war
to- TO- enough, may be transplanted toget
dy er with the soil without injuring Il
Cal roots of the young plants. AS t
his spring advances, and before tran
ne planting, the boxes or pots should
set during the day in the open a
ate so as to harden them to exposure.
md Still another method of gainil
20 time is to SOW seeds on inverted sod
yer which may be set in the garden wit
us out disturbing the soil. The so
My should be taken from loose rich so
sa and every part carefully turned ov
so as to prevent the sprouting of t
18th grass. Several pieces may be set
ka small box, or in the hot-bed. I'll
method works better with melons a.
cia cucumbers and the like, than wi
ior plants of which the roots are to
eaten. Corn may be given an cal
ion start in this way, and at least o
hay
3 a month gained. But no plants of a
1t kind should be set out until both t
earth and the atmosphere are wa
ct- enough to insure continued growth.
ueu ". Y. Observer.
A movement is on foot in Tex
led
to accomplish what far-seeing N
eye. have long urged as an agricultu
00o necessity of the future. 1t is to put
% end to the absorption of small far
into large ones. Smaller farms wi
res' in the working ability of the avers
raa farmer and more of them is the
liver form desired. The farmers of II