THE FLOKAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



55 



loam from rotten turves and leaf- 

 mould, half and half, no dung. Sow 

 in pots or shallow pans, the latter are 

 the best, because as soon as the roots 

 touch the bottoms of the pans, they 

 break into masses of fibres, which is 

 the best condition for them for plant- 

 ing out. At the time of sowing, the 

 heat should be sweet, and the sides of 

 the frame and the glass all as clean as 

 if the culture were to be carried on 

 in a drawing-room. If old frames are 

 used, make up the bed, put on the 

 frame, and the day before you intend 

 to sow, pour boiling-water down next 

 the wood all round to kill the wood- 

 lice. If pans are used, they should 

 be not more than three or four inches 

 deep. If pots, use those of 60 size, 

 with one crock over the hole, and two 

 seeds in each pot, placed one inch 

 deep in the soil. When the plants 

 are up, keep them only three or four 

 inches from the glass, and as soon as 

 they have rough leaves remove the 

 weakest plant from each ; this will 

 leave them single in the pots to form 

 balls of roots, which can be shifted 

 without breaking, a much better way 

 than growing them in pairs. If sown 

 in pans, shift to 60-sized pots in 

 mould previously heated by making 

 the pots ready some time beforehand, 

 and placing them in the frame to get 

 warm. Mr. Cuthill follows the esta- 

 blished plan of potting in pairs ; we 

 prefer single potting, and never turn 

 out any cucumber, melon, or gourd 

 till it has filled a 48-sized pot with 

 roots. On this plan there will soon 

 be needed another shift, and by the 

 time the 48-sized pots are full of roots, 

 the seed-bed will be getting cool, and 

 perhaps may need a lining to carry 

 the plants so far. In winter time it 

 is advisable to strew silver-sand 

 over the soil in the pots, after each 

 shift, to prevent damping. Air must 

 be given as much as possible, but the 

 state of the weather must regulate 

 this part of the culture, and no rule 

 can be laid down. The bottom-heat 

 should be never less than 65^ and 

 water should be kept in the frame so 

 as to be warm for watering. If this 

 is not convenient, get a can of boiling 

 water from the house at watering 

 time: and add a little of this to every 



full watering-pot to bring the heat of 

 the water to about 70". Early sowings 

 will want a good deal of care to guard 

 against frost, wind, and snow, there- 

 fore mats and hurdles should always 

 be in readiness when early sowings 

 are made. To regulate the time for 

 making up the fruiting-bed, five 

 weeks on an average may be allowed 

 from the time of sowing the seed to 

 turning out the plants for fruiting. 

 The period will be shorter as the 

 season advances, and if they are to 

 be turned out in pairs from 60-sized 

 pots, four weeks should be the ut- 

 most, so about three weeks after 

 sowing the seed, get together the 

 dung for the bed, and commence 

 turning it, to establish a regular fer- 

 mentation. One more cautien seems 

 needful here : guard against too high 

 a night temperature, the registering 

 thermometer may go down to 60' to- 

 wards morning, and may rise to 70' or 

 75° at mid-day. 



Fruiting-bed. — If turned out in 

 January or February, very strong 

 beds will be needful, and precautions 

 must be taken against burning. The 

 best method to accomplish this is to 

 carry up a pile 'of brickbats in the 

 centre of each light, as the bed is 

 made up. If this has been forgotten, 

 and the heat is very strong open the 

 centre, and lay down a thick turf, 

 grass side downwards, and over this 

 put a thick paste of wet cowdung, 

 then make the ridges for the plants. 

 The soil for the fruiting-bed should 

 be, if possible, the top spit of a 

 pasture, fed by sheep or cattle. 

 This well chopped over can be 

 used at once without any manure, 

 or any preparation. Some readers 

 may be inclined to ask if it is 

 not likely some mischief will result 

 from wire-worm by using fresh- 

 cut turves ; we can only say that 

 whenever we could get turf of the 

 kind described, we have always used 

 it as it came, and with the grass still 

 green, and never lost a plant in con- 

 sequence. At Stoke Newington we 

 can get thin slicings from rich pas- 

 tures carried in at 7^. 6d. per one 

 horse load, and when removed from 

 the cucumber or melon-bed, it is in 

 fine condition for potting composts 



