86 THE VEGETABLE CULTIVATOR. 



soil turning white, the pots must be drawn up : if 

 the burning has gone to any extent, do not let the 

 least particle mix with the mould intended for pot- 

 ting. Should the seedlings seem dry, a little water 

 will be necessary; and should the weather be severe 

 and stormy, a mat or thin canvas should be put 

 before the space left for the steam to pass off (if it 

 be only half an inch), to break the direct entrance 

 of the air, which sometimes proves fatal, as few ex- 

 otics are more susceptible of cold than the cu- 

 cumber. 



In the course of four or five days the seedlings, 

 if all has gone well, will be of sufficient growth for 

 transplanting into pots. During that time dung 

 should be got ready for making the ridge, as it will 

 take nearly three weeks before it is in proper order 

 to receive the plants, which by this time are of 

 sufficient growth to pot off, but either sooner or 

 later, according as their seed-lobes are fully ex- 

 panded. For that purpose small pots (generally 

 called sixties) which the author recommends for an 

 early season, should be prepared ; first, with cover- 

 ing the hole at the bottom with a little half-con- 

 sumed dung, which draws the roots considerably, 

 and then filling them with earth halfway up, rather 

 hollowed in the middle, in which put two plants, 

 the roots towards the centre, and the upper part 

 bending towards the edge of the pot ; afterwards 

 cover them with an inch or so of mould : the pots 

 should then be plunged in the bed, and each have 

 a little soft-water out of a bottle, which must be 

 put in the frame two or three days before, for the 

 purpose of raising the temperature to a proper de- 



