58 Notes and Gleanings. 



A Continuous Supply of Cucumbers. — Much has been said, and well said, 

 about the cultivation of cucumbers, their diseases, and their failures in the win- 

 ter-time. It is no easy matter, under many circumstances, even with good ap- 

 pliances, to secure a regular supply at all seasons, especially in winter. The 

 plants require careful tending at all times ; and I have known many failures, even 

 in spring and summer, when the means were limited. 



I do not for a moment suppose that there is any thing novel in what I am 

 now advancing about the cultivation of cucumbers in winter: but it maybe 

 useful to describe a method founded on long practice, and which has attained 

 the object aimed at, — namely, a supply all the year round ; though I have not, 

 like many of my more-favored brethren, a house specially devoted to the culti- 

 vation of cucumbers. I have a fruiting pine-stove heated on the Hamiltonian 

 system ; hot water, flowing in cemented tanks, or gutters, covered over with blue 

 slates, supplying the bottom-heat. The house is a lean-to, ventilated, back and 

 front, with sliciing doors ; but there is no ventilation at the top. Along the back 

 of the house is a path ; and a tank, or gutter, runs parallel with it, to give off a 

 certain amount of top-heat : over this tank is constructed a trough, or box ; and 

 a space of about nine inches is left from the top of the tank to the bottom of 

 the trough, or box, which forms the future cucumber-bed. This receives bottom- 

 heat from the tank, as well as from the side of the bed in which the pines are 

 planted out. The place for the bed is about twenty inches deep, and the bottom 

 is pierced with holes to permit the water to escape : these are covered with large 

 hollow crocks, and the bottom with four inches deep of broken bricks or other 

 rough material as drainage, a proper amount of which is very essential for the 

 future well-doing of the plants. Above the drainage is placed about an inch of 

 rough charcoal, and over it moss, or some other covering. 



We are situated near a river ; and the soil being of a heavy, retentive nature, 

 we are obliged to add to it many ingredients to keep it porous. For cucumbers, 

 I form the compost as follows : I procure the best turfy loam which is to be had, 

 and lay it up in a stack for some time previous to use ; and to each bushel of this, 

 roughly broken, I add half a peck of good sound leaf-mould, one peck of thor- 

 oughly decomposed dung, half a peck of chr.rcoal-dust, a sprinkling of bone-dust, 

 a little soot, and a small quantity of river-sand to keep the mass open. The 

 whole being well incorporated together, I have a porous compost through which 

 the water passes quickly. This, in my opinion, is one of the first steps to 

 success. 



The place and soil for the bed being ready, we put in an upright rod, and 

 fasten it to the rafter to tie the plants to as they advance in growth. We allow 

 the plants a certain space to each by placing a partition between them, so that, 

 in case of need, a plant can be removed without interfering with its neighbor. 

 This being done, the soil is put into as many spaces as are required, placing 

 the roughest portion of the compost at the bottom, and making the soil about 

 ten inches deep, so as to leave room for top-dressing with rich comjwst when 

 the plants require it. The bed is allowed to remain a it\s days before planting, 

 in order to acquire a genial temperature ; and, when this is the case, the plants, 

 which have been previously prepared, are planted about the end of September. 



