302 THE GARDENER. [July 



and be trained fully 18 inches from the glass. All superiluous 

 fruits should be removed before they draw unnecessarily on the 

 resources of the plants. We prefer, however, to grow Cucumbers in 

 low pits or frames through the summer, or from about June to 

 September. 



Strawberries in pots should always be watered between 9 and 10 

 a.m. every morning, and looked over again in the afternoon, if clean- 

 liness is to be a certainty. Beans in pots and planted out should 

 also be supplied with water at a uniform temperature — that is to say, 

 if the Beans are planted out in a pit. With bottom-heat, do not give 

 them water from 20° to 30° lower than the soil they are growing in. 

 We know that we expect the weather to grow warmer daily, but a 

 few hours or days of sunshine will not have the same effect in increas- 

 ing the temperature of water two or three feet beneath the surface of 

 the earth, that it will have in raising the temperature of the air in 

 glass structures, or even upon plants that are growing upon the sur- 

 face of the earth outside. It is therefore advisable to have all tanks 

 filled with water in the morning (where there is not a supply in the 

 houses inside), so that it will be exposed to the softening influence 

 of air and heat before it is used for plants that are grown under 

 glass. 



It is by giving attention to minor details, and by assisting nature, 

 that we succeed with summer crops ; and still more so, that we suc- 

 ceed in producing fertility in fruit trees and other plants that are to 

 be forced out of season. Cultivator. 



CHOICE HARDY SPRING FLOWERS. 



Narcissus. — The Narcissi are essentially flowers of spring. They 

 are all beautiful, and there is a very considerable number of varieties 

 and species in cultivation. In fact, "there are perhaps too many 

 varieties : there are certainly too many names ; for they greatly exceed 

 the number of distinct sorts. Certain connoisseurs profess to 

 discern well-marked specific distinctions, where ordinary observers 

 fail to detect even the merest differences in form or colour. But 

 independently of the confusion of nomenclature and embarrassing 

 synonymy that one has to face in taking up the genus as a subject of 

 study, there is a strong attraction induced by their fragrance and 

 beauty, which helps to overcome the natural repugnance arising 

 therefrom. The following brief list is not vouched for as being 

 more scientifically correct than any other, but it contains the 

 names of some of the best sorts in cultivation ; and they have the 



