52 buist's family kitchen gardener. 



Merely dig out a hole, about a foot wide and deep ; fill it with 

 rich, sandy soil ; raise it above the surface about six inches : 

 the hills should be six feet apart each way. Any time in May, 

 sow a few seeds therein, and the result is certain. If the 

 weather be warm, they will grow in a few days ; if the nights 

 are cold, protect them. There is frequently a little bug, which 

 preys upon the tender leaves ; if sOj soot and wood ashes 

 sprinkled over them, while wet with the dew, will retard the 

 progress of the depredator. As soon as the vines have made 

 three rough leaves, nip the points off to make them branch 

 out. They will fruit sooner by it. Three vines to one hill is 

 quite enough. To have young fruit in February and March 

 is rather a nice operation, but any one who can command a 

 few loads of warm horse-manure, can have them from April to 

 October. That farmers in the country may have the article 

 either for family use or for sale, a few hints may be in place on 



Forcing Cucumbers. — The first requisite is to obtain four 

 feet square of warm stable-manure ; turn it up into a heap for 

 -eight or ten days, to allow the rank vapor to pass off, when it 

 may be placed into any form to suit a sash. The general size 

 is four by six feet, and three or four feet high at the back, 

 sloping to two and a half or three feet at front. Either make 

 or have made a frame of boards, at least fifteen inches deep, 

 three feet wide, and five feet long, or the fall size of the sash. 

 Let the dung-bed be a foot all round larger than the frame. 

 Should heavy rain or snow fall, or it be a severe frost, the 

 manure should be protected with a covering of straw. Care, 

 however, should always be taken that the reduction of the 

 heat in the dung is not carried too far, before making up the 

 bed, as, when that is the case, too little heat will afterwards be 

 produced, and the young plants will be of a yellow color in- 

 stead of a rich green. The bed should be built square up, and 

 regularly beaten down with the fork. When finished, put on 

 the frame and sash ; keep it close for a day or two, to draw 



