172 CUCUMBER. 



paper. The proper soil is light rich black earth, 

 manured from a heap of decayed vegetable matter, 

 with a moderate portion of old and well decayed 

 dung. Early crops can be raised only by the arti- 

 ficial heat of flued pits or hotbeds; and this of 

 course must require a constant gardener to regulate 

 the heat, dissipate the vapour, admit air, and ex- 

 clude a five minutes' breath of frost. In the south 

 of P]ngland large cucumbers are abundantly pro- 

 duced from drills in the open air, and hence their 

 cheapness in the market: but in the northern parts 

 of the island, the most that can be done without 

 forcing is to raise fruit of a smaller size, by sowing 

 under a handglass in May, and planting out on a 

 sheltered border in June. The male and female 

 flowers are on the same plant, but under glass some 

 movement by the hand is necessary to effect that 

 mixture of pollen which in the open air is made by 

 the breeze or the wings of the bee. 



To save the time lost by transplanting, to have 

 also a quicker growth and larger fruit with the least 

 trouble, pits are made in the ground eighteen inches 

 deep, at the distance of four feet from each other; 

 they are then filled with manure in fermentation, 

 and which is covered over with six inches of mould. 

 There the seed is sown in patches, and the seedlings 

 afterwards thinned ; a small frame or box, having 

 the top covered with oiled paper, or cotton cloth at 

 nearly as little cost, anointed with wax dissolved in 

 turpentine, is set over each. This last apparatus, 

 of remarkable cheapness, is for many garden pur- 



