The Lancaster news. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, 1918-03-05
The COLD FRAME SHOULD Al
WAYS ACCOMPANY The
hoTBEp.
HOW TO CONSTRUCT ONE
Plants Should First Be Started In
Hetbed Then Transpianted to the
Cold Frame.

For forcing early vegetables such as
tomatoes. egg plants, peppers, ETC., the
hotbed is indispensable. To construct
q hotbed an eastern or southern ex-
posure should be selected. The
frame should be feet wide and any
desired length. AS a rule for the fam
lily garden, a hotbed by feet Will
be sufficient for rearing all young
plants for the garden. 1t would be
much better, however, to hav frame
by II feet. This will afford ample
space for transplanting the plants and
give them more room in order that
they may properly develop. The soil
Is excavated to a depth of Is inches
and the frame built feet wide and
the desired length and fitted over the
trench The frame should slope to-
wards the east in order to admit sun.
light. The bottom OF the frame is
filled with fermenting stable manure
This should be mixed thoroughly be-
fore being placed in the frame and
packed firmly and watered freely inn
mediately afterwards. In the south
IL inches OF manure will furnish suf-
ncient heat for hotbeds; while in the
north where the weather is more Sc
we're, two feet Of manure is usually
used. On top OF the manure is placed
six inches OF garden soil which has
been well sifted and is free from all
roots and trash. This should be
slightly packed in order to make It
perfectly level. The sash Of the
frame are always three feet wide and
siI feet long. The frame. therefore,
should either be constructed three.
six, nine, or IL feet wide. After the
garden soil has been placed in the
frame 1t 10 well to cover this with one
inch OF nnely sifted woods earth.
Woods earth Is used because IL is
always free from grass and weed
seeds which are frequently very trou-
blesome when the garden soil is used
After the bed has been completed tho
rash are put in place and the frame
allowed TO stand for 8 or 4 days befors
planting the seed. This is done in
order to allow the bed TO become thor.
puEhly warm before planting. The
seeds may then be planted, watered
slightly, and the sash replaced. As
soon as the plants come up the bed
should be ventilated II the weather
conditions are favorable. Even when
The temperature Is near freezing in
the early morning. 1t will be warm
enough before midday to ventilatc
The bed for q few hours. II the
frames are not properly ventilated.
the plants will grow too tall and be-
some tender and will not withstand
n fron anla tt,,o
I'd. When frame Is properly con-
Structed 1t will last for a number OF
years. Each year. however, fresh ma
nure will have to be placed in tho
frame. The same hotbed may be used
for various kinds Of vegetables. For
instance one may first grow cabbage
and caulifower. After these are re-
moved or transplanted in the cold
frame, tomatoes. egg plants and pep
per seed may be sown in the samS
frame. These will be ample size fo!.
transplanting by the time the wealth
sr conditions are favorable Great
care should be exercised in watering
the plants. II they are watered too
freely during warm weather they will
grow too rapidly. and IL watsred too
freely during excessively cold wealth
or, they are label to be injured 1t
Is, therefore. recommended that the
plants be watered Just enough to keep
them in a good growing condition and
not allow them to suffer.
Cold Frame-The cold frame
should always accompany the hotbsd,
the plants first being started in the
hotbed and then transplanted to the
cold frame, and from there to the open
ground whenever the weather condi.
tions will permit. The cold frame
differs from the hotbed In only one re-
spsct, 1t docs not have the manure u,
the bottom OF the bed to produce heat,
otherwise the frame Is constructed In
exactly the same way as the hotbed.
Cold frames are sometimes covered
with heavy canvas instead OF glass.
This is much cheaper than the glass
and the frames are more easily han<
died when covered by canvas than
when covered with glass. The plants,
however. will not grow off as rapidly
but this, as a rule Is an advantage
in favor OF the canvas-covered frames.
The chief trouble with the amateur
gardener iB that he forces his plants