106 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



bers in February, March, or April ; but it is a fact that cucum- 

 bers sell well, and bring high prices, from fifty cents to a 

 dollar apiece, and I don't know but more, in those cool 

 months. A gentleman in West Newton, Mr. O. C. Gibbs, 

 raises a large number under glass, and the business has been 

 quite successful. Mr. E. A. Brackett, near Boston, was 

 formerly quite successful in the same business, and my friend 

 Col. Wilder, spoke coming up in the cars of his success in 

 growing cucumbers under glass, where the vines would yield 

 from March until September or October, giving a great num- 

 ber of very excellent cucumbers. I believe from what 

 observation I have had, and from what I have learned from 

 those with whom I have talked who have been successful 

 ingrowing cucumbers in that. way, that growing cucumbers 

 under glass for the market is one of the most profitable enter- 

 prises that can be engaged in. I am told by Mr. Gibbs that 

 it is exceedingly profitable, and if it is, they are easily grown 

 by those who know how to do it. I am told that there is 

 a market for all that are produced, and doubtless the demand 

 would increase as the supply increased. I call attention to 

 this, not having any practical experience myself, it is true, 

 but I have kept my eyes and ears open, and I think it is 

 a matter worthy of consideration by the farmers of the State. 

 Col. Wilder is posted on that subject, and I hope he will give 

 us his views in regard to it. If gentlemen about here can 

 raise cucumbers, and sell them in New York or Boston for a 

 dollar or even half a dollar a piece, they can make a great 

 deal of money, for a good many dollars' worth can be raised 

 on a small piece of ground. It is a pretty sort of work. It 

 is very delightful to go into Mr. Strong's or Mr. Morse's 

 houses, on a cold winter day, when the north-west wind is 

 blowing. It seems like going into a tropical climate, for I 

 see in the former many of the most beautiful flowering plants 

 of the tropics, and in the latter the vegetables of May or June. 

 Col. Wilder. I would not say a word, if Mr. Hyde had 

 not alluded to my experience in raising cucumbers in a hot- 

 bed. I have a bed sixty feet by ten, with a walk through the 

 middle, with a roof over it, so that I can just stand up and 

 walk down the middle. A brick flue runs through it, covered 

 with plank about a foot above the flue, and soil placed upon 



