174 THE KITCHEN-GARDEN [MARCH. 



morning, if a sunny day, so soon as it shines on the beds, or, if 

 otherwise, as early as may be consistent with the safety of the 

 plants ; for their being too much debarred from the light, causes 

 them to become discoloured and weakly. 



As the early plants, raised last month, will have now advanced 

 considerably into fruitful runners, and show fruit abundantly, espe- 

 cially cucumbers ; let the runners or vines be trained out regularly 

 along the surface of the bed at equal distances, and peg them down 

 neatly with small hooked sticks. At this early season, it will be of 

 much utility to impregnate the young fruit of cucumbers with the 

 farina of male blossoms. The flowers of cucumbers and melons 

 are male and female, separate, on the same plant, and the females 

 produce the fruit ; the males are often erroneously called false 

 blossoms, and many persons, in consequence of that notion, pull 

 them off; but they are so far from being false blooms, that they are 

 by nature designed to impregnate the female flowers, to render them 

 fruitful ; for the anthers in the centre of the male blossom, being 

 furnished with a fine powder, which being dispersed on the stigma 

 in the centre of the female, the fecundation is effected, and the fruit 

 in a day or two after will begin to swell, and which, in cucumbers, 

 will generally, in about a fortnight, or within a few days under or 

 over, according to the state of growth of the plants, be arrived to 

 a proper size for cutting or gathering for the table, in young green 

 fruit, three or four, to five or six inches long or more ; so that with- 

 out the assistance of the male blossom, the females having the em- 

 bryo fruit at their base, wither and decay, and the infant fruit turns 

 yellow ond drops off. 



Therefore it is of importance to preserve a sufficiency of the 

 male flowers, for the purpose of impregnating the females, and in 

 the early culture of cucumbers, See. it is eligible to carry some of 

 the males to the female flowers, observing for this purpose, to 

 detach some new expanded male blossoms with the stalk to each, 

 and holding the stalk between the finger and thumb, and pulling oft" 

 the petal or flower leaf surrounding the male organ : then with the 

 remaining anthers, or central part, touch the stigma in the centre 

 of the female, twirling it about, so as some of the farina or male 

 powder of the anthersc may adhere thereto j a little of which being 

 sufficient to effect the impregnation. 



This operation is essentially necessary to be performed by hand, 

 to early plants that are shut up in frames, before the lights or 

 glasses can be admitted sufficiently open to give free access to a 

 large current of air ; or flying insects, such as bees, Sec. all of 

 which assist in conveying the farina of the male bloom to the females, 

 as is evident in plants exposed to the open air. 



The above operation of fecundating, or, as the gardeners term it, 

 setting the fruit, should be performed the same day the flowers 

 open, and are fully expanded ; which is the most essential period 

 of their generative effect. 



The female or fruit-bearing flowers are readily distinguished at 

 sight from the males ; the former having always the embryo fruit 

 placed immediately under the base of the flower j or, in other words, 



