chap, vi.] CUCUMBERS. 159 



should be pricked out into other pots, three in 

 each pot, and watered ; the earth in the fresh 

 pots, and the water, being previously kept 

 under the glass for some time, that they may 

 be both of the same heat as the plants. When 

 the plants are about five weeks old, they are 

 generally removed to a larger hotbed, with a 

 two or three-light frame. In this bed, a little 

 ridge of earth is made under each light; and, 

 in each of these, the contents of a pot is planted, 

 without breaking the ball of earth round the 

 roots of the plants. The heat of this bed is 

 generallv a little higher than that of the seed- 

 bed. Water should be given every day, warmed 

 to the temperature of the plants. If the plants 

 are wanted to fruit early, the ends of the shoots 

 may be pinched off as soon as they have pro- 

 duced two rough leaves, and this is called stop- 

 ping the runners at the first joint; the stopping 

 being repeated wherever the runners show a 

 disposition to extend themselves without pro- 

 ducing fruit. 



As plants raised under glass have not the 

 benefit either of currents of air or of insects, 

 to convey the pollen of the barren plants to the 

 stigma of the fertile ones, the latter must either 

 be dusted with pollen by the gardener, or the 

 plants must be exposed as much to the air as 

 possible in the middle of the day, when it is 

 warm enough, during the time that they are in 

 flower. Seeds for the first crop of cucumbers 

 are generally sown in December or January; 

 but, as extra heat and care are required at this 

 early season, the crop for a small garden may 

 be sown about 31 arch. The oreat art is to 



