nches high, which will be
in three or four weeks, they should be thinned to about four or less to
an inch in the row. They should now be well hardened by partly drawing
off the sashes in the warm part of the day, and covering at night; as
the season advances remove the sashes entirely by day, covering only at
night. By about the middle of April the plants will be ready for the
open ground.

When raised in cold frames in the spring, the seed should be planted
about the first of April, mats being used to retain by night the solar
heat accumulated during the day. As the season advances the same process
of hardening will be necessary as with those raised in hot-beds.

COLD FRAME AND HOT-BED.

To carry on hot-beds on a large scale successfully is almost an art in
itself, and for fuller details I will refer my readers to works on
gardening. Early plants, in a small way, may be raised in flower pots or
boxes in a warm kitchen window. It is best, if practicable, to have but
one plant in each pot, that they may grow short and stocky. If the seed
are not planted earlier than April, for out-of-door cultivation, a cold
frame will answer.

For a cold frame select the locality in the fall, choosing a warm
location on a southern slope, protected by a fence or building on the
north and north-west. Set posts in the ground, nail two boards to these
parallel to each other, one about a foot in height, and the other
towards the south about four inches narrower; this will give the sashes
resting on them the right slope to shed the rain and receive as much
heat as possible from the sun. Have these boards at a distance apart
equal to the length of the sash, which may be any common window sash for
a small bed, while three and a half feet is the length of a common
gardener's sash. If common window sash is used cut channels in the
cross-bars to let the water run off. Dig the ground thoroughly (it is
best to cover it in the fall with litter, to keep the frost out) and
rake out all stones or clods; then slide in the sash and let it remain
closed for three or four days, that the soil may be warmed by the sun's
rays. The two end boards and the bottom board should rise as high as the
sash, to prevent the heat escaping, and the bottom board of a small
frame should have a strip nailed inside to rest the sash on. Next rake
in, thoroughly, guano, or phosphate, or finely pulverized hen manure,
and plant in rows four to six inches apart. As the