CUCUMBER. 97 



this opinion, since from their closeness they are very 

 apt. to draw the plants into a weakly state* 



In respect of the size of the pit, whether there 

 are three lights or more, this is left to the judgment 

 and convenience of the builder, who of course will 

 have an eye to the outer wall of the pit, which 

 should have a coping of stone about nine inches 

 broad, a foot or eighteen inches in length, and 

 four in thickness. The stones, for better security, 

 should be cramped together. If stone cannot be 

 had, the hardest and best burnt bricks should be 

 chosen. 



Such are the pit and frame the author recommends 

 for early cucumbers and melons ; and should the 

 outline not appear to be of graphic exactness, still 

 he hopes there will be sufficient hinted at to convey 

 his meaning for such an erection. The author 

 does not pretend to be an architect, having had 

 for nearly seventy years more active business to 

 perform than to sit for hours with the ivory rule 

 and steel compasses, trying to solve problems in 

 Euclid. 



If it should be asked, how the author obtained 

 experience to enable him thus highly to extol the 

 qualities of the frame here recommended, his 

 answer would be, that it resulted not so much from 

 actual practice, as from his having been an eye- 

 witness for many years of its utility for early work 

 for various culinary vegetables. By some it has 

 been objected to on account of the expense in the 

 erection ; but that should be a minor consideration 

 when durability is required ; and this can only be 

 expected when good materials are used. In that 



