248 NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE 



budds are more swell'd. Trimmed y e fig tree, which was 

 full of Young wood, & plies very well to the wall. 



Feb. 9. Put-in about 20 more Cucumber-seeds. Former 

 sowings do not come up well. 



ii. One of the Hyacinths in the Glasses blown-out in 

 several of its buds. 



Some in the Garden, thro' the mildness of the winter, 

 budded for bloom. 



14. Had 20 bushels of tan from Alton for the Cucum- 

 ber-bed. 



23 : 24 : 25. Made a cucumber-bed full fourteen feet 

 long, & almost four feet deep, at the back of my two two- 

 light frames with ten Dung-carts of dung, which is very 

 short this year on account of the scarcity of litter ; & was 

 very cold & wet by reason of the vast rains about that 

 time. Covered the dung the space of one of the frames 

 about five inches thick with tan, & filled a deep hole in the 

 centre of each light with the same. Laid a leaden-pipe 

 into the frame that has got the tin-chimney (according to 

 D r - Hales's proposal), up thro' the back of the bed, in order 

 to convey-in a succession of fresh air a nights. 



Made an hot-bed for a single hand-glass for Celeri. 



Planted half hund : large, forward cabbage plants. 



27. Planted 100 brown-Dutch, & green Capuchin 

 Lettuces from Bradley that had stood y 6 winter, in the 

 room of our own, which rotted thro' the wetness of the 

 soil. 



28. Sowed the Celeri-bed. 



March i. Great flood : wet for a long time. 



2. Laid the hillocks of earth in the middle of each 

 light. No earth fit to have been used, had it not been for 

 the earth-house thro' the vast rains. 



4. Plunged nine melon-pots in the tan-frame, & three 

 in the other frame. Contrived some wodden bottoms to 

 the pots to make the earth turn-out more easily. Sowed 

 plenty of cucumber-seeds in a good depth of earth. Bed 

 comes well to its heat. Sad wet, stormy weather. 



March 6. Sowed one melon-seed from that curious 



