The hotbed is an enclosure, affording bottom heat and protection from cold, for the propagation of tender plants unsuited to sowing in the open ground, and for starting plants too early in the season for open-air operations. The hotbed is usually started in February or March in the latitude of Philadelphia, while April is early enough in the latitude of Detroit and Chicago. Plants are transferred to the open ground when all danger of frost is past. With the exception of a few plants like Poppies, which do not bear disturbance, all seeds yield better results if planted where they have protection in their early stages from drying wind, burning sun and nipping cold. This protection the cold-frame gives, while the hotbed affords the additional advantage of artificial heat. Plants thus started will be ready to transplant about the time seeds could be started in the open ground—an important gain in northern latitudes, where, between the early and late frosts there is hardly time for the maturing of annuals.

The hotbed should be situated on the south side of a building, wall or fence, where it will have the full benefit of the sun and be protected from cold winds. It is also desirable that the land should slope toward the south, that all surface water may drain away, and that the bed may receive the greatest amount of sunshine during the day. In constructing a hotbed dig a pit two feet deep. This may be lined with planks or bricks, or left with its earthen walls. Over this build a frame of rough lumber around four posts of three-or four-inch stuff, three feet two inches high in the back, and two feet eight inches high in the front. If the pit is not lined, this will bring the frame below the surface and allow a sufficient slant for the free shedding of water and the concentration of the greatest amount of sunshine on the bed. Regular hotbed sash are three feet by six, and cost about two dollars and seventy-five cents each, glazed and painted. These are usually arranged to rest on the frame, simply sliding up and down, the size of the bed determining the number of sash. A bed three by six, however, is more easily handled than a larger one; and two or more beds, set end to end, or one long, narrow one divided by partitions into three-by-six beds, will be more satisfactory in every way than a wider one. The partitions are necessary, not alone to strengthen the frame and support the sash, but to insure to each section the special treatment it requires. Not all seeds germinate in the same temperature, or require the same degree of moisture. There is, also, a great difference in the period of germination; some seeds sprout in from three to five days; others require as many weeks. With separate sections seeds of similar habits and requirements may be planted together.

Florists’ sash makes an expensive hotbed, and quite as satisfactory results may be obtained by using such old window-sash as may be picked up for about twenty-five cents apiece where buildings are being torn down or from junk or hardware dealers. Old sash will probably need some glazing and painting, and these are among the things the amateur gardener should learn to do for herself, as sash must be water-tight and in order at all times. A sudden hail-storm, a mischievous cat or careless handling may leave one with broken glass that must be replaced at once. When old sash is used the back of the frame should be higher than the sides by the thickness of the sash, so that the sash may be fastened to it with hinges if desired. A cross-piece from the back to the front for the sash to rest on will give greater stability and prevent draughts of cold air on a sudden fall of temperature.

Having constructed the pit, fill it with fresh manure from the horse-stable—that from young, grain-fed stock being best. It must be perfectly fresh, gathered from the stalls in the morning, and should be mixed with a quantity of litter—long straw or leaves. This serves as fuel, insuring a continuous heat. Without it the heat germinated by the manure would quickly die out and the bed become cold. Throw the manure loosely into the frame, close the sash and wait for fermentation or heating. This should take place in from twelve to twenty-four hours; if longer than that it will be as well to throw out the manure and begin again, making sure this time that the manure is absolutely fresh. When the thermometer by rising to 100 or more degrees shows that fermentation is well under way, the manure should be well tramped down, as level and smooth as possible. Over this place a couple of inches of fine, old, well-rotted manure. This will afford nourishment for the young plants should they make sufficient growth to need it, or on account of stress of weather be detained in the hotbed longer than expected. If this is not supplied the tender roots of the plants are apt to go in search of the crude manure in the bottom of the hotbed, and be injured by contact with it. When plants that have come up thrifty suddenly turn yellow and look as if they had been scalded, though sufficiently protected from the sun, it is probable that their roots have been burned by the manure. This may be determined by digging down to the roots. If they have reached the manure the cause is evident; other plants in the same beds, with shallower roots, it will be observed, are not affected in the same way. As this is not likely to happen until the plants have made considerable growth the season will probably be enough advanced to permit of planting out, especially with protection at night, or they may be transplanted into the cold-frame until the weather is warm. Such mishaps seldom occur, but when they do, they must be met promptly. Few plants will make over four inches of roots before transplanting, and when they reach the old manure they usually spread out without going deeper.

To return to the construction of the hotbed: Cover the manure with four inches of rich, fine loam, free from rough lumps and stone; it would better be put through a sand-or coal-sieve if not mellow and fine. Make as level as possible, and place a thermometer in the soil to register the temperature. When it has risen to 90 degrees or above, and then fallen to 75 or 70 degrees, the seed may be sown.

In planting seed it is best to use narrow strips of wood to separate the different varieties. This prevents mixing and running together when watered. It is impossible to distinguish between different varieties of Asters, Ageratums and Pansies once they have become mixed. Where one lives within reach of a box factory narrow strips of wood—admirable for this purpose—of uniform width and very thin, may be readily obtained. It is best to begin at the upper right-hand corner with seeds that require the most time to germinate, labelling each section plainly with name, date and the period of germination.

Flowers that make the tallest growth may be placed against the back with advantage—as CobÆa scandens, Ricinus, the Dolichos, Cosmos, and the like; giving them the advantage of the extra light and keeping them from withholding the light from the plants in front of them.

Coarse seeds should be planted in drills and covered to twice their depth. A furrow may be scratched with a sharp stick from an eighth to a half-inch deep, and the seed sown thinly in it, the earth being replaced and pressed firmly down with a piece of wood. This is important, as it brings the seed in close contact with the earth, and the tiny sprout can lay hold of it at once when germination takes place. Many seeds of weak germinating power are lost when sown in loose, coarse soil by failure to obtain immediate contact with the nourishment contained in it.

Fine seeds like Petunias, Nicotianas and Ageratums must be sown broadcast in little squares reserved for them. Sow on the surface, press into the soil with a piece of board and merely sift fine sand over.

A piece of thin wood eight or ten inches long and four or five inches wide, with a handle on one side, will be found very useful to press the soil down quickly and firmly. This should be an adjunct to every well-regulated hotbed. So should a thermometer, hung on the back wall of the hotbed, the bulb level with the soil. After the seeds are all sown, if the soil is at all dry, sprinkle carefully with a rubber sprinkler, or a whisk-broom dipped in water and shaken over the bed. Do not use the watering-pot, as it will wash the seed out of the ground. When the plants are up and of some size the watering-pot may be resorted to, but not before. When all the seeds are sown as directed cover with newspapers and close the sash.

The most careful attention must now be given the hotbed. If the temperature rises above 75 degrees in the warmest part of the day the sash must be raised an inch or two. In doing this, if the wind is cold, it will be best to slip a strip of wood between the sash and frame on the windward side, or protect the opening on the windward side with a bit of carpet.

When the seeds in any particular plot show a single pair of leaves, remove the paper over that much of the bed, still shading from the sun during the hottest part of the day by a bit of paper on the glass directly over the plants. When the plants appear too thickly in the row, transplant them as soon as they have their second leaves into other rows between the first, or into another hotbed or cold-frame. Encourage vigorous growth by giving room to develop and as much air and light as possible.

As soon as the plants are of sufficient size and the weather is warm enough, remove the sash during the day, replacing it with screens made of lath. These screens are easily made by nailing strips of lath, the width of the hotbed, to strips of wood the length of the bed. The lath should be set its own width apart, and the nails, of which there should be two in each end, clinched on the under side. Such screens are a necessary part of the hotbed, and will last for years.

Before transplanting to the open ground these screens should be removed entirely and the plants left exposed to the weather for a few days to harden. Screens of chicken netting may be substituted, if protection from cats, dogs or chickens is needed. If, in the early stages of the hotbed, drops of moisture gather on the glass, the soil is too wet and the sash must be raised to allow the surplus moisture to pass off, avoiding always a cold draught across the bed.

The cold-frame is simply a frame of boards fitted with sash and placed over a prepared bed of earth. As the bed will be raised slightly above the surface of the soil, the frame should be set over it, shutting out the cold from the sides as well as the top. A covered bed, prepared without heating material, is a cold-frame; and one in which the heating material is spent is often used as a cold-frame after it has served its purpose as a hotbed earlier in the season, for growing Gloxinias and rooting cuttings during the summer, and in August for sowing Pansy seed for the next summer’s blooming. Cold-frames are useful to protect beds of such tender perennials as Tea-roses, Pansies, Canterbury-bells, Foxgloves and Violets. Violets may, by this means, be kept in bloom during the winter. They are also useful for bringing forward, early in spring, beds of Hyacinths and Narcissi. They should be protected by carpets or mattings at night and during the colder days, and exposed to the heat of the sun on bright days when the soil is not frozen. When it is, they must remain covered and thaw out in the dark, to be aired when the weather is above freezing, but draughts across the bed must be avoided, as they will certainly blast any buds there may be.

The cold-frame in winter must have good drainage, or much damage will ensue from water standing around the roots of plants. The surface of the bed must be above the level of the land outside and a trifle lower at one corner. From this corner a trench should be dug having an outlet, or a deep hole may be dug and filled with broken crockery and stones to carry off all surplus water.

The sand-box is a receptacle for the summer storage of plants which are not to be bedded out. It is also used to prepare plants for winter blooming, and for experiments with novelties in house-plants. It is, finally, the ideal place for rooting cuttings. I have never known a plant capable of being started from cuttings that would not take root in the sand-box. Any shallow box that may be reached across easily is suitable for this purpose; or a deep box may be cut down to six or eight inches and rendered available, the length depending on the plants to be accommodated and the room at disposal. The sand-box should be placed, if possible, in a convenient place on the east side of the house. Elevate on saw-horses, blocks, posts or a regular frame to a height easy to reach when sitting in a chair. Fill nearly full with clean white sand; in this bury the pots nearly to the brims and keep the sand constantly wet.

Plants that can stand full sunshine—as Geraniums, Crotons, Heliotropes, etc.—should be placed in front; those requiring more shade may be in the second row, and those needing the most against the wall. Vines, also, may be trained against the wall, and over the sides of the box, if it is desired to make it beautiful as well as useful. A wooden chair should be placed conveniently near, and the space underneath may be utilised for ferns, or the storage of tools and pots.

Once established, the sand-box will be found one of the most fascinating of spots. Cuttings of all kinds may be thrust into the sand between the pots—Geraniums, Carnations and Roses in front. Gloxinias and Begonias—with the leaves laid flat on the sand in the rear—will quickly take root in it. No one who cultivates a garden, or house-plants, should try to get along without a work table or bench, and this should be situated in some cool, shady spot out of doors. It may be either a large kitchen table or a large packing box, the latter being preferable, perhaps, as affording shelter for the various tools used in working. It should be high enough to work at conveniently when standing up, and a tall stool should be provided for sitting on when desired, to be pushed under the top of table when not in use. There should be a shelf underneath, sufficiently roomy to hold a supply of pots and flats, and, below it, a box of potting soil and one of fine white sand should be kept ready for use. If the potting soil lies on the ground it will keep moist in the dryest weather. A tin pail of pebbles, broken crockery and charcoal for drainage, and a supply of sphagnum moss should also be kept handy. A trowel, knife, shears, pencils and a stick—or, better still, a piece of a broken carving-steel—for pushing a plant out of the pot by inserting it in the drainage hole when, for any reason, it is not readily removed by tapping, will greatly lessen the labour of repotting and shifting house-plants in summer.

A shallow tray, with a bail of wood, large enough to hold a number of pots, will be useful to carry plants from the potting table to the sand-box, and will save many steps. With a well-equipped table to depend on and no litter around the house, one is much more likely to give plants necessary attention promptly. The work then becomes a pleasure instead of a labour to be dreaded. There, too, may be kept the supply for staking plants. The nicest stakes for house-plants are made of Cat-tail stems, any quantity of which may be gathered in the fall and stored away for future use, each stalk furnishing two or three stakes. Being round and smooth they are sightly and just what is needed for Carnations, Freesias and the like.