18 ON THE CULTURE OP THE CUCUMBER 



keep up a sufficient internal temperature to 

 admit of air being given regularly. The plants 

 should remain in the seed pot till their stems 

 are a little hardened, and the third leaf dis- 

 cernible ; after which they will bear potting off 

 singly into fresh pots, which should be forty- 

 eights, which are three inches in diameter and 

 four inches deep ; the pots, if not new, must be 

 well washed, or the plants will not turn out pro- 

 perly when they are to be transplanted ; and 

 the earth will adhere to their sides, to the great 

 injury of the roots. Let the soil to be used in 

 transplanting be moderately fine, but not sifted, 

 and put a piece of turf, as before recommended, 

 (see p. 16), at the bottom of each pot for drain- 

 age. The seed-leaves of the plants should be a 

 little above the top of the pots, and the earth 

 should be within an inch of the top, in order to 

 allow of a little more being added, so as to cover 

 the roots when they show themselves on the 

 surface. 



The best time for potting off is between three 



