SECT. XIV. OF RAISING CUCUMBERS. 1$9 



days, and sooner or later, if there is too strong or too 

 weak a heat ; though the age of the seed will occa- 

 sion some difference. Very old seed (which some 

 gardeners are fond of, as running less to vine, and 

 so reckoned the more fruitful) will, sometimes come 

 up weak, and also rot, when the mould is damp, 

 and the heat not strong ; so that seed of two, three, 

 or at the most, four years of age, is to be preferred : 

 that of a year old only comes up certainly, but too 

 luxuriantly. 



Whether the first seeds come up, or not, on the 

 third day, sow a few more, and so again and again ; 

 for the early young plants are incident to failures, 

 from various causes. As the seed must not be sown 

 in wet earth, so if it gets too dry, sprinkle the mould 

 to moisten it a little below the depth of the seed ; 

 but let it be with water previously set in the frame 

 (in a bottle) to warm. Be sure to give the plants 

 air, according to the weather, raising the lights from 

 one half, to a whole inch ; and now, and ever after, 

 while there is a strong heat in the bed, tilt a little 

 one corner of a light for the steam to pass off on 

 nights, and let a mat hang, or be nailed loosely over 

 the open part, to keep out the wind. 



The pric/cing out the young plants is to be done 

 when they are three or four days old, taking them up 

 carefully, and the mould being warm, put three in a 

 small pot, as the common practice is ; but no more 

 than two, or only one in a small pot, is a good me- 

 thod. If a single plant is put in a pot, it certainly 

 may be expected to grow stronger, and be continued 

 longer therein, and "three of these may be planted 

 close together in the fruiting bed. If only one plant 

 is put in, set it upright in the middle of the pot 

 nearly up to the seed leaves. If more are put in, 

 take the mould out of the pot in a bason-like form, 

 arj inch or more deep, as the shanks are, laying the 



