support. This should be 6 inches higher than the front. The
cross strips, when sash are used, should be made of a 3-inch horizontal
and a 1-1/2-inch vertical strip of 1-inch lumber nailed together very
firmly in the form of an inverted T, the vertical pieces projecting 1
inch at each end and resting on the front and back of the bed and
forming supports and guides for the sash. Some growers use vertical
strips as heavy as 2x3 or 4 inches for stepping across the beds. When
the plants are to be taken to the field, the sash and guides can be
easily removed. (Fig. 15.)

Ground to be covered with cold-frames should be made very friable and
rich by repeated plowing and working in of a liberal dressing of
well-rotted stable manure and wood ashes. In southwestern New Jersey,
where immense areas of early tomatoes are grown, the soil of the beds
for a depth of about 6 inches is removed and a layer 3 to 5 inches deep
of well-rotted stable manure is placed in. That made of a mixture of
manure from horses, cattle and hogs is preferred. It is important that
the manure be so well rotted that it will not heat, and so dry that it
will not become pasty when tramped into a firm, level layer. On this
they place a layer of nearly 3 inches deep of rich, friable, moderately
compact soil and prick out the plants into this. The roots soon bind the
manure and soil together and by cutting through the manure so as to form
blocks one can carry the plants to the fields with but very little
disturbance of the root.

=Cloth covers for beds= should be made of heavy, unbleached sheeting or
light duck, and it is better that the selvage run up and down the bed
rather than lengthwise. The cloth is torn into lengths of about 13 feet
and then sewn together with a narrow double-stitched flat seam so as to
form a sheet 13 feet wide and about 8 inches longer than the bed. The
edges are tacked every foot to the strips about 2 inches wide by 7/8
inch thick with beveled outside edges and laid perfectly in line. A
second line of strips is then nailed to the first so as to break joints
with it and so that the two will form a continuous roller about a foot
longer than the bed with the edge of the curtain firmly fastened in its
center. The center of the curtain is secured to the central ridge of the
bed by strips of lath. When rolled up, the rollers are held in place by
loops of rope around their ends and when they are down they are held by
similar loops to the notch