TEMPORARY HOTBEDS IN A CITY BACK YARD
FRAMES USED IN TRUCK GROWING.
Intensive gardening under sash or cloth covers has become one of the most popular and, in certain localities where the conditions are suitable, one of the most profitable lines of outdoor work. The trucker and the market gardener of the present day have been compelled by keen competition and a constantly increasing demand for high-grade products out of season to provide special facilities for increasing and improving the product, as well as to take advantage of every favorable natural condition. Many localities are especially favored with an abundance of sunshine at all seasons of the year, and at the same time their climate, due to the influence of large streams or near-by bodies of water, is mild and free from extremes of temperature. In such localities it would be possible to grow lettuce, radishes, and similar crops during the entire winter without protection were it not for a few cold days and nights. A very slight covering or the application of a small amount of heat will, as a rule, carry the plants through in good condition. This industry may readily be combined with regular truck farming, as it furnishes remunerative employment during the winter months. A comparatively small area is necessary for the frames, but several times that acreage of land should be available, so that the site of the frames may be changed every few years to safeguard against diseases and insect injuries.
Cloth-Covered Frames.—The type of frame or bed varies with the different localities and is ordinarily no more elaborate or expensive than is necessary to protect the crops. In North Carolina and South Carolina the type of frame generally used is that having for the sides two lines of 12-inch boards set on edge and held in place by means of stakes driven into the ground. The covering of cheap unbleached muslin is supported on strips of wood 1 inch thick and 2½ or 3 inches wide, which are raised in the center by being carried over the top of a stake; the ends are held down by nailing to the sides of the bed. Most of these frames are temporary and are taken apart and stored during the summer months. Before placing the frames in position in the autumn the soil is plowed, thoroughly fitted, and given a liberal dressing of well-rotted stable manure and commercial fertilizers. The placing of the boards will cause some trampling of the bed, and before putting in the ends and nailing on the rafters or strips to support the cloth it is desirable to loosen the soil again by means of a harrow or cultivator. The stakes for supporting the cross strips or rafters are then driven through the center and the strips nailed in place at intervals of 4 feet. The ends are inclosed by means of 12-inch boards, and the bed is then ready for the cloth cover. The cloth is first stitched, with the strips running lengthwise of the bed, into one great sheet large enough to cover the entire bed. This sheet is fastened on the north side of the frame by nailing over it plastering laths or similar strips of wood. The cloth should not be fastened to the top edge of the board but on the side, 1 or 2 inches below the top. For fastening the sheet on the south side of the frame short loops of string or cloth are attached to its edge and these are looped over nails driven into the side of the bed.
Sash-Covered Frames.—In the tidewater region of Virginia the frames are covered with hotbed sash. The climate of Norfolk is a little too severe for the use of cloth except for early autumn and spring crops. A number of growers in the vicinity of Norfolk handle sash-covered frames occupying as much as 3, 4, or 5 acres each season. For the sides and ends of these frames the same class of cheap lumber as for the cloth-covered frames is used.
Heated Frames.—Farther north, near Chicago, St. Louis, Cleveland, Detroit, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, New York, and Boston, sash-covered frames are extensively used for growing early vegetables. This work is practically the same as that found at Norfolk, except that the frames are constructed over an excavation which is filled with fermenting manure to provide heat. Where manure-heated beds are extensively used for growing early vegetables a long, shallow pit is opened, the manure is trodden in, and 12-inch boards are fastened to stakes to form the sides. The board on the north side is raised a little higher than the one on the south side in order to form a slope for the glass. A few strips are nailed across the bed to prevent the sides from coming in by the pressure of the manure or soil that is banked on the outside, and the sash simply rest on the sides without any guide or supporting strips between them. Straw mats and board shutters are employed as a protection for the sash during cold weather.
Temperature of Frames.—The temperature at which the air of the beds should be carried will depend entirely upon the crop being grown. Thermometers should be placed at intervals in the beds, as it is not safe to judge the temperature by personal sensation. If lettuce, parsley, or radishes are growing in the beds, the temperature should not go above 70° F. before ventilation is given; on the other hand, if the frames are filled with cucumbers, eggplant, or peppers, the temperature may run 8 or 10 degrees higher. It should be borne in mind that any covering, whether cloth or sash, will exclude a part of the light, and every precaution is necessary to prevent the plants becoming "drawn." The safest plan is to keep the temperature a trifle low and thus retain the plants in a strong, thrifty condition. Where tender plants are being grown under cloth there is greater danger of injury from keeping them covered too tightly than from exposure to moderate cold.
SHOWING VEGETABLES GROWING IN HOTBED