Make a frame of the same size, with the back
two feet high, the front fifteen inches, and the sides sloped from the
back to the front. Make two sashes, each three feet by five, with the
panes of glass lapping like shingles instead of having cross-bars. Set
the frame over the pit, which should then be filled with fresh
horse-dung, which has not lain long nor been sodden by water. Tread
it down hard; then put into the frame light and very rich soil, six
or eight inches deep, and cover it with the sashes for two or three
days. Then stir the soil, and sow the seeds in shallow drills, placing
sticks by them, to mark the different kinds. Keep the frame covered
with the glass whenever it is cold enough to chill the plants; but at
all other times admit fresh air, which is indispensable to their health.
When the sun is quite warm, raise the glasses enough to admit air, and
cover them with matting or blankets, or else the sun may kill the young
plants. Water the bed at evening with water which has stood all day,
or, if it be fresh drawn, add a little warm water. If there be too
much heat in the bed, so as to scorch or wither the plants, lift the
sashes, water freely, shade by day; make deep holes with stakes, and
fill them up when the heat is reduced.
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