C \3 



the Vines, either drops off, or is a 

 Jong Time growing to Maturity ; 

 therefore from thefe and many 

 other Advantages attending this 

 Method, I may with Safety pro- 

 nounce it, the beft yet known to 

 procure Cucumbers in any of the 

 Winter or Spring Months. 



CUCUMIS AGRESTIS j i//V# 

 Eiaterium. 



CUCURBITAi The Gourd. 

 The Characters are ; 



It hath a Flower, conjifling of one 

 J.eafy which is of the expanded Bell- 

 fmpe j for the tnoji part (p deeply cut, 

 that it feems to coriftfl of five difiinci 

 ]Leaves : This, like the Cucumber, 

 has Male and Female Flowers on 

 the fame Plant: Jhe Fruit of fome 

 Species is long, of others, round or 

 Bottle-flmp'd, and is to?njnonly di- 

 "vided into fix Cells, in which are 

 contain'd many fiat oblong Seeds, 

 which have fometimes a Border 

 round them. 



The Species are j 



1. CucuRBiTAj longa, folio mollt, 

 flore albo. J, B. The long Gourd, 



with a loft Leaf, and a white 

 Flower, 



2. CucuRBiTA ; falcata figura, 

 folio molli, flore albo. C. B. The 

 Sickle-ibap'd Gourd, with a foft 

 Leaf, and a white Flower. 



3. Cucurbit a; latior^ folio molli, 

 flore albo. J. B, Flat Gourd, with 



a foft LeaF^ and a white Flower, 

 commonly calVd Squafhes. 



4. Cucurbit A i lagenaria, flore 

 albo, folio molli. C. B. Bottle- 

 {hap'd Gourd, with a foft Leaf, 

 and a white Flower. 



There are feveral other Varieties 

 of this Plant, which are annually 

 brought from America, where are 

 numberlefs Varieties ot thefe, apd 

 of Vumkins and Calabafijes. 



They may be all propagated by 

 fowin^ their Seed? in March, on a 



c u 



Hot-bed ; and when the Plants 

 come up, they fhould be trans- 

 planted on another moderate Bed, 

 where they fhould have a great 

 deal of Air to ftrengthen them 5 

 and when they have got four or 

 five Leaves, they fliould be tranf^ 

 planted into Holes made upon an 

 old Dunghill, or fome fuch Place, 

 allowing them a great deal of room 

 to runi for fome of the Sorts will 

 fpread to a great Diftance: I have 

 jneafur'd a fmgle Plant, which had 

 run upwards of forty Feet from 

 the Hole, and had produc'd a great 

 Number of Side- Branches; fo that 

 if the Plant had been encourag'd, 

 and all the Side- Branches permitted 

 to remain, I dare fay it would 

 have fairly overfpread ten Rods of 

 Ground J which, to fome People, 

 may feem like a Romance ; yet I 

 can affirm it to be Fad, But 

 what is this to the Account print- 

 ed in the Tranfa^ions of the Royal 

 Society, which was communicated 

 to them by Faul Dudley, Efq; from 

 New-England, wherein mention is 

 made of a fmgle Plant of this Kind, 

 which, without any Culture, fpread 

 over almofl: two Paftures,'and from 

 which Plant were gathered Two 

 Hundred and Sixty Fruits, each, 

 one with another, as big as an 

 Half-Peck! 



Theie I'ruits are by fome People 

 gathered while young, and boil'd i 

 afterwards dripping off the outer 

 Cover and buttering them, they 

 eat them with Meat, and are, bv 

 fome People, mightily cfreeni'd, 

 efpecially the firft Sort, which is 

 counted by far the fweeteft: Of 

 this Kind I have feen a lingle Fruit 

 upwards of f x Feet long, which- 

 has ripen'd perfectly well But 

 this is not common with us ; tho/ 

 1 have heard of their being longer 

 in other Countries ; This Sort re* 

 ouircs 



