And see the back of my hand. It is toward the left and my thumb points
down the handle, just so with the rake handle."

All summer long the boy worked or cultivated his piece of land. He kept
hoeing and weeding constantly.

One of the August pieces of work was to fix the hotbed for winter. Now
the frame was taken up and the pit dug deeper--about two feet this time.
Previous to this a great pile of manure had been heaped up near by. Jack
had sprinkled it with hot water to start fermentation. Steam rising from
the heap was proof of this, and it may be used at this time.

Then the manure was put into the pit. An eighteen-inch bed of it was
made and firmly tramped down. At first the temperature of this was over
one hundred degrees. When it dropped to ninety-five degrees soil was put
on. The temperature was taken by means of a thermometer buried in the
manure. The frame was placed after two inches of soil had been put in;
then four more inches went on. The surface of the soil was made to slope
at the same angle as the glass. All about the frame was banked, again,
manure covered with earth and leaf matter.

Jack transplanted violet plants into one compartment. These were good
violets and were placed four inches apart. In the second bed he sowed
foxglove, pansy and stock. The third was left for radish and lettuce, a
bit later.

Elizabeth helped him sew together several thicknesses of straw matting
as covering for the winter nights. They had decided that newspapers next
the glass, then the mats, and finally a rubber blanket, would be
protection sufficient.