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Bough-Bed

Categories: Iii Camping

Tips of balsam broken off with your fingers about fourteen inches long

make the best of beds, but hemlock, spruce, and other evergreens can be

used; if they are not obtainable, the fan-like branches from other trees

may take their place. Of these you will need a large quantity, in

order to have the bed springy and soft. Always place the outdoor bed

with the head well under cover and foot toward the opening of shelter,

r if without shelter, toward the fire. Make the bed by arranging the

branches shingle-like in _very_ thick overlapping rows, convex side up,

directly on the ground with _thick end_ of stems _toward_ the _foot_.

Push these ends into the ground so that the tips will be raised

slantingly up from the earth; make the rows which will come under the

hips extra thick and springy. Continue placing the layers in this manner

until the space for single or double bed, as the case may be, is covered

with the first layer of your green mattress. Over it make another layer

of branches, reversing the ends of these tips from those underneath by

pushing the _thick ends_ of branches of this top layer slantingly into

the under layer _toward_ the _head_ of the bed with tips toward the

foot. Make more layers, until the bed is about two feet thick (Fig. 25);

then cover the mattress thus made with your poncho, rubber side down,

and on top spread one of the sleeping blankets, using the other one as a

cover. Be sure to allow plenty of time for this work and have the bed

dry and soft.



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