SECT. XIV. OF RAISING CUCUMBERS. IS? 



Make a seed bed of the size of a one-light frame, 

 (or a two-light were better) from three to four feet 

 thick, and if ambitious of being forward, do it some 

 time between the first and fifteenth of January, 

 though there are gardeners who sow about Christ* 

 yias : But the sooner this work is begun, the more 

 hazard there is of failing, and the more skill and 

 trouble will be necessary to manage them success- 

 fully. 



The young gardener is advised not to attempt this 

 business till the middle of February ; and then, if he 

 has good fortune, he will cut fruit about the middle 

 of May. When he has attained some skill in the 

 work, he may begin sooner ; for there is nothing that 

 professed gardeners are so fond of exhibiting, as 

 early cucumbers, which is a proof, that no little in- 

 genuity and attention is necessary to produce them. 

 All favourable circumstances coinciding, as sowing 

 the forwardest seed in kind, mild and sunny wea- 

 ther, and plenty of dung, with good frames, managed 

 by skill and industry, early cucumbers are sometimes 

 raised in about eight weeks, and later in the season 

 have been raised in six ; but near upon three months 

 must commonly be allowed. 



A bed being ready, agreeable to the directions 

 given in the last section, which may be four feet 

 high in January, three and a half feet in February, 

 and three feet in March, or the medium height as a 

 general rule ; let it be covered with the frame and 

 lights, raising the glasses a little to let off the steam 

 that will come strongly from the bed. 



When the h eat has been up three or four days in a 

 single light, or a day or two more if a two-light 

 frama> let it be taken off, and see that the surface of 

 the bed is perfectly level, but rather rising behind ; 

 and if you think the bed is hardly strong enough, the 

 opportunity is given to add a course or two more of 



