. Manual of gardening; a practical guide to the making of home grounds and the growing of flowers, fruits, and vegetables for home use . y to receive the fermenting manure. The pit should bea foot wider on either side than the width of the 205 is a cross-section of such a hotbed pit. Upon theground a layer of an inch or two of any coarse material is placedto keep the manure off the cold earth. Upon this, from twelveto thirty inches of manure is placed. Above the manure is athin layer of leafmold or some porous material, that will serveas a distributor of the heat, and above this is
. Manual of gardening; a practical guide to the making of home grounds and the growing of flowers, fruits, and vegetables for home use . y to receive the fermenting manure. The pit should bea foot wider on either side than the width of the 205 is a cross-section of such a hotbed pit. Upon theground a layer of an inch or two of any coarse material is placedto keep the manure off the cold earth. Upon this, from twelveto thirty inches of manure is placed. Above the manure is athin layer of leafmold or some porous material, that will serveas a distributor of the heat, and above this is four or five inchesof soft garden loam, in which the plants are to be grown. THE HANDLING OF THE PLANTS 171 It is advisable to place the manure in the pit in layers, eachstratum to be thoroughly trodden down before another one isput in. These layers should be four to eight inches in this means the mass is easily made uniform in that has too much straw for the best results, and whichwill therefore soon part with its heat, will spring up quicklywhen the pressure of the feet is removed. Manure that has. 205. Section of a hotbed built with a pit. too little straw, and which therefore will not heat well or willspend its heat quickly, will pack down into a soggy mass under-neath the feet. When the manure has sufficient litter, it willgive a springy feeling to the feet as a person walks over it, butwill not fluff up when the pressure is removed. The quantityof manure to be used will depend on its quality, and also on theseason in which the hotbed is made. The earlier the bed ismade, the larger should be the quantity of manure. Hotbedsthat are intended to hold for two months should have about twofeet of manure, as a rule. The manure will ordinarily heat very vigorously for a fewdays after it is placed in the bed. A soil thermometer should be 172 MANUAL OF GARDENING thrust through the earth down to the manure, and the framekept tightly closed. When the te
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectgardening, bookyear19
