A cold wet spell at planting time often results in a loss of the entire planting of Lima and string beans, but if one has taken the precaution of planting a half pint of seed in the hotbed and transplanting them along about the twenty-first of May, one can wait until the first of June, if necessary, to plant the main crop and be assured of a successful stand of plants which will bear quite as early as if planted in unsuitable weather and soil; this is of especial moment owing to the high price of this class of seed; all varieties of seeds have advanced in price but the difference is most marked in seeds of the various legumes—peas and beans, of all varieties which command a price that makes especial care in their planting advisable.
Cold Frames
Supplement effectively the hotbed or, in mild climates, take their place. They are, to all effects and purposes a hotbed—minus the heat—and so do not require the excavation of a pit. The part above the ground is similar to that of the hotbed, being supplied with sash and given the same slant to shed water and concentrate as much sunshine as possible. For spring use it should front the south and occupy a well-drained position, but for mid-season use an east exposure is often desirable. If one wishes to use it to transplant things from the hotbed, then a temporary frame of boards made to bolt together may be constructed that may be taken apart and stored away when no longer required; if used for transplanting the sash should be in a position a week before it is needed so that the soil may become warm and friable, then the little plants of cabbage, cauliflower and the like may be transferred without any appreciable check in the growth and what there is will be advantageous as it will result in the formation of a mass of fibrous roots which will give them an additional chance in the struggle for life in the open. Even screens of cheese cloth will give sufficient protection in any but frosty weather and blankets may supplement these on cold days if glass is prohibitive on account of its excessive price.
A well-spaded bed of good soil, enriched with a little well decayed manure—that from last year's hotbed will answer, or bone meal may be used or a commercial fertilizer, for the plants will need food at this stage of their growth, should be prepared and the frame set on this or sunk a few inches into the ground to insure warmth and prevent the ingress of small rodents which somehow show a peculiar penchant for hotbeds and cold frames and have been known to destroy a whole planting of seeds in a single night. A little nitrate of soda scattered between the rows of cabbage and cauliflower will work wonders in the growth of these plants and is to be recommended at this stage of their growth and again when transplanted into the open ground.
Other forms of plant protection are found in the frameless beds protected by lath screens; these are used mainly during the summer months and are especially adapted for growing pansies from seed to be transferred to cold frames in the fall and grown on until time to plant out in permanent beds in spring; for growing violets in like manner and also for starting cabbage seed to be held over winter in cold frames for early spring planting.
The Sand Box
Is used as an auxiliary to the hotbed for a nursery for those plants which are to be used in the house or conservatory during winter and must be kept in a growing, but not blooming, condition during summer and shifted from pot to pot as occasion requires. Though mainly essential in the growing of house plants it is often found of much use as a place to carry on such vegetable plants as one may desire to pot off for sale or for stockier growth, previous to setting in the open ground. The sand box consists of any shallow box of sufficient size to hold a considerable number of two to four inch pots. It should not, preferably, be over three feet wide but may be of any desired length. Five inches is a good depth. It should be elevated on some kind of support, at a convenient height to work at when sitting on a stool or box. When used for growing house plants it is usually placed in a rather shady spot on the east side of the house, but if used for vegetables it may be given a more sunny, exposed position; it should be filled with clean sand into which the pots are plunged to their rims and the sand is kept constantly wet. The pots should be turned around in the sand every day or two to prevent the roots, which escape through the hole in the bottom of the pot, growing in the sand; to prevent this also place a piece of broken crock or glass over the drainage hole. In potting off plants from the hotbed use a small thumb-pot at first and re-pot in one a size larger as soon as the roots form a network around the outside of the ball of earth: this condition may be ascertained by tapping the pot against the side of the box which will loosen the ball of earth and allow it to drop out on the hand. Plants that are to go into the ground in late May will probably not require re-potting, certainly not more than once, but this treatment makes stocky, well-rooted plants that command a better price than the untransplanted plants from the beds, though there is always an excellent market for all the products of the hotbed.
Sowing Seed in Flats in the House