JUNE. 



656 



JUNE. 



wide, and fill with prepared stable dung to 

 the thickness of 3 feet ; cover this with a 

 foot of soil ; place the plants 5 or 6 feet 

 apart, two or three together, and cover 

 with handglasses. 



Cucumbers, Management of. Cucumbers 

 at this season of the year do best with a 

 considerable amount of shade ; this should 

 be attended to, and the necessary bottom 

 heat and moisture kept up. Keep the 

 vines thin and regular by frequent stopping. 

 In planting out at this season use a rather 

 poor, in preference to a rich soil, which in 

 cold, wet seasons produces canker. 



Cucumbers on Trellis. Cucumbers are 

 sometimes allowed to trail over a trellis. 

 By this means the fruit is suspended, and 

 no glass tubes are required to keep them 

 straight ; some, even when grown on a 

 bed, are tied up with sticks for the same 

 purpose. When tubes are used, it is some- 

 times necessary to watch them, in order 

 that, during the swelling of the fruit, they 

 are not wedged into the tubes so tightly 

 that they are difficult to withdraw. Care 

 should be taken that the bloom which 

 adorns the fruit is not removed in cutting 

 them. In the application of lining, to 

 maintain the heat, in watering and giving 

 air, &c., proceed as before. 



Flowers in Hotbeds, &c. As regards 

 flowers, there will be few, if any, under 

 bottom heat in hotbeds at this period of 

 the year : those, indeed, that are under 

 glass at all will be in cool frames, and will 

 require abundance of air and judicious 

 shading. 



Flowers Seedlings for Winter Bloom- 

 ing. Seedling Chinese primroses, cine- 

 rarias, and other plants required to furnish 

 the winter supply of bloom, should now 

 be forwarded by shifting into pots. Keep 

 them in a cool frame where a slight shade 

 can be given them in hot weather, or else 

 turn the frame to the north. Look to the 

 stock of plants out of doors in showery 



weather, to see they are not suffering from 

 imperfect drainage. Throw screens over 

 delicate plants during heavy rains, 

 especially such as have been recently 

 potted. 



Lawn Mowings as Mulching. Many 

 growers make use of lawn mowings for 

 lining hotbeds. Now, although it may be 

 useful in a certain manner, it is far from 

 being a proper material : it heats too 

 violently, and the roots of plants recoil 

 from it. It also has the very disagreeable 

 property of breeding swarms of insects ; it 

 is, therefore, advisable to avoid using it 

 about frames. It may be used more 

 advantageously as mulch for kitchen crops, 

 strawberries, or ridge cucumbers or melons : 

 laid on the surface of the ground, and 

 spread out, it is soon dried, and loses its 

 power of doing harm. 



Melons. These may be started for suc- 

 cession ; for, as melons are not generally 

 continuous bearers, nothing is gained by 

 endeavouring to induce old plants to bear 

 again. It is more satisfactory to raise fresh 

 plants and make new beds for them, unless, 

 indeed, they are planted on old beds newly 

 lined. With a tolerable bottom heat, the 

 growth of these plants is very rapid at this 

 time of the year ; and though they may be 

 grown without it, still, for the production 

 of fine fruit, heat is indispensable. 



Melons ', Management of. Where tho 

 fruit is swelling off, the roots will mosi 

 probably have penetrated the lining ; if so, 

 this must not be disturbed, but fresh dung 

 added to it ; but care must be taken that 

 the rank heat has passed from the new 

 lining, or the roots will be injured. It is 

 advisable to raise the fruit on tiles or slates, 

 or some such material ; boards are not so 

 well, as they are more likely to harbou* 

 woodlice under them. Pinch back all use- 

 less shoots, but keep the plants regularly 

 furnished with healthy leaves. 



Melons in Open Ground. Melons, like 



