The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1884-07-10
HOtbedS the Year Round.

Hotbeds and cold-frames. with the
accompanying complement of glass,
are a necessity for the nIarket-gardener
who intends to do anything more than
farm gardening" Market-gardening
N the latitude north of New York City
cannot exist without these helps. TO
buy large quantities of vegetable plants
| IS expensive. while to- raise the same
1uantity is to have Your own stock,
with some to sell rs payment for the
! trouble. There is no secret in hOtbed
management; it wants good, well-made
saSheS, two-inch plank 10 rest them on,
and these sunk in the ground, to keep
the manure from losing its heat in cold
winter weather. l buy sashes 3x6 feet;
set with dOuble-thick English glass, size
5x3; tackled, puttied and bedded in
pinch pine sash with horns inches
long at each corner TO carry them by
Such sashes | have had in use fifteen
Years, and they will last lifetime
with good care; they rarely break;
dogs and cats walk over them, and they
sustain the weight of heavy SHOWS
Other sizes of sasheS, or glass, are the
index of ineXperience or ignorance.
used. and one solid foot in depth of
this, smoking hot from the pile when
the bed is made. will force plants better
than ANYTHING else have tried. The
first week of February plant \ seed
| bel of lettuce. Early III March / set
the plants out in hOtbeds; these head
up to sell during May CaulifOwersO
cucumbers are started for a second
crop-in places made vacant by the sale
of lettuce-from plants previously
raised for that purpose; the cucumbers
in pots, the cauliilOwers In beds pre-
pared for them. Cabbage seed is
planted about March l, pricked out the
last of the month in cOld-frameS, and
the cabbage bed planted to lettuce
Tomatoes are pricked out to succeed
the early lettuce and cabbage, some
times; and sometimes lettuce, cabbage,
or tomato follow radish. Radish will
GRO from theseed in siXweeks- Celery
and peppers remain in the hOtbedS till
ready for the field.
Long radisheS need at least eight
| inches of soil over the manure, while
the round ones will grow in five or six
inches, as will lettuce But if large
heads of lettuce are wanted they must
be set fifty plants to the sash in the
beds, and in earth foot deep: lettuce
needs a cool head and warm feet, and
deep soil for big heads, while a
shallow soil, with seyenty-iive plants to
the sash, is the rule for the early
forcing, small head lettuce. The
smaller heads will mature quicker,
while the big heads will sell better
| later in the season. The tomatoes are
pricked out into beds, two feet from
the earth to the glass, to allow the
plants to oct in blossom before time to
set in the open ground. The glass in
the fall can again be put TO good use
by using it to cover the lettuce set IN
the beds, which will mature from
Thanksgiving to New Years, after
which time the beds lie idle till Febru-
arv, unless used to winter small lettuce
or cabbage plants for early setting in
the spring opening of the beds.
Water is a necessity. Twenty-Five
sashes will in dry time require barrel
of water daily and often more. My
supply comes from tank filled by
hand pump and flows to the beds
through a rubber hose by the force or
gravity; one man can fill the tank and
hen water until it is empty. The later
the season and the dryer the weather.
the more water is used, especially If
the sashes are taken off, which becomes
.ecessary after the middle OF May
Then the sun and drying winds dry the
beds rapidly. CucumberS and cauli-
flowers then suffer if not aoundantlY
watered. To stop watering then means
te lose all the crop. and all past labor;
while continual watering may mean
ucumbers and cauliiowers to sell Tor
:ess than the cost of production: This
is a dilemma with two horns. Hall an
ounce of either cabbage, lettuce, or
tomato seed, sowed under one 3x6 glass,
will make 1900, 1000 and 800 good
plants respectively to prick out. sow
broadcast; but celery plant in rows
two inches apart and thin out as they
grow. 1 transplant peppers from the
seed-bed direct to where they are to
grow.-K W. Bull, in n, Y. Tribune.