2o6 The Gardener's New Director. 

 the trench, flirring every part of it with a fork, giving 

 a gentle treading with your feet, in fuch a manner, that 

 it may be perfettly even through every part of the bed; 

 there mufl: be three feet of this dung, above which lay four 

 inches of pure dung, without any mixture of litter, the 

 ufe of which is to prevent the ileam of the dung from 

 rifing, as it often does without it ; fet your frame upon 

 it for five or fix days before you lay on the earth, that 

 the violent heat may go off, othervvife it would burn the 

 earth, and render it of no ufe. 



About five days after, lay on the earth fix inches 

 deep, and when it is warm, fow your feeds in it; for 

 the management of which I have already given fuffici- 

 ent direftions, in the raifing of the early Cucumber. 

 Three weeks after, you muft prepare dung for a nurfe- 

 ry-bed, in the lame manner, ufing your dung as in the 

 foriner, with this difference, that when you turn the 

 dung the fecond time, you mufl mix with it fome coal 

 aflies, which will preferve a continuance of the heat 

 much longer, than if you had not ufed any ; take care to 

 lay and tread your dung equally, otherwife it will heat un- 

 equally in fpots, when it will be the fooner fpent. As foon 

 as you perceive the heat is abating, add fome new dung 

 quite round the edges of your beds, which will renew the 

 heat, and preferve it a confiderable time ; but obferve al- 

 ways, as the heat of your beds decreafes, to increafe 

 the coverings at night on your frames and glaffes. 



When your plants are fit to be planted out in ridges 

 or bafons, prepare and drefs your dung in the fame man- 

 ner, mixing it with coal-afhes, as is direfted for the nur- 

 fery-beds ; but at this feafon, if the ground is dry, I 

 would dig the trench two feet deep, and raife the dung 

 two feet above the furface, managing them in the fame 

 manner as your beds for frames, obferving the earth 

 for Cucumbers muft be twelve or fixteen, and for 

 Melons eighteen inches deep ; if your ridges or bafons 

 decline in their heat, add new dung round their edges, 

 covering them with it, to allow the roots of the Cu- 

 cumbers fpace and good earth to run into, v/hich is 

 of greater fervice to the plants on the ridges, than 

 moll: of our gardeners apprehend ; for as I have already 



obfervedj 



