CUCUMBER. 93 



partly until May ; and as the blossoms increase in 

 strength, the petals may be gently closed after the 

 operation : it may sometimes be done on the first 

 setting, but in general the plants are rather too 

 tender at that time. 



The seed to be saved should be taken from the 

 earliest fruit, and at the first or second joints, and 

 be perfectly well ripened ; and in order to prevent 

 its running too luxuriantly into vine, it will be 

 better to keep it two years or more before it is 

 made use of. 



Of late years cucumbers have been successfully 

 raised from layers, and when a bed is observed to 

 be thin of vines or shoots, this may be done to 

 advantage, as layers of this kind generally pro- 

 duce fruit of a superior quality, arising from the 

 multiplicity of roots which they draw to nourish 

 them. 



For the above purpose, a strong healthy shoot 

 should be selected, and after the ground is a little 

 way opened, gently bend it down in the opening 

 to about an inch in depth, taking care to have one 

 joint in the earth, and two at the end; the part in- 

 serted is then lightly covered over with earth, and 

 when it is observed that the layer has struck root, 

 (which it generally does in two or three days), the 

 end should be punched off, and in its after growth 

 treated as the parent plant. 



Such was the author's method of cultivating 

 early cucumbers on dung hot-beds for above forty 

 years, and he has been the more diffuse on this 

 subject, for the benefit of the amateur and young 

 horticulturist. The author, however, congratulates 



