cue 



[ 205 ] 



cue 



manure, talcing care that, the temperature 

 of the liquid is always from 75 to 80. ( 

 The earth over the hot-water tank or 

 pipes ought not to be less than fifteen 

 inches deep. During severe frosts it is 

 an excellent plan to keep a small floating 

 light burning within the frame every 

 night. 



Open Ground Crops. The sowing for 

 these crops must be performed at the 

 close of May, or early in June. A rich, 

 south-west border, beneath a reed or 

 other fence, is peculiarly favourable, as 

 they then enjoy a genial warmth with- 

 out suffering from the meridian sun. 

 The border being dug regularly over, 

 and saucer-like hollows, about fifteen 

 inches in diameter and one or two deep, 

 formed five feet apart, the seed may be 

 sown six or eight in each. 



Seed may also be sown beneath a 

 hedge of similar aspect, and the plants 

 either trained to it or to bushy brandies 

 placed perpendicularly. If the weather 

 be dry, it is requisite to water the patches 

 moderately two or three days after 

 sowing. In four or five days, if the 

 season be genial, the plants will make 

 their appearance, and until they have 

 attained their rough leaves, should be 

 guarded from the small birds, who will 

 often destroy the whole crop by devouring 

 the seminal leaves. 



If the season be cold and unfavourable, 

 plants may be raised in pots, under a 

 frame or hand-glasses, as directed for 

 those crops ; to be thence transplanted, 

 when of about a month's growth, or 

 when the third rough leaf appears, into 

 the open ground, shelter being afforded 

 them during the night. Water must be 

 given every two or three days, in propor 

 tion to the dryness of the season, ap- 

 plying it during the afternoon or early in 

 the morning. 



Only three or four plants may be 

 allowed to grow together in a patch, 

 and these pressed far apart. The train- 

 ing must be as carefully attended to as 

 for the other crops ; but stopping is sel- 

 dom necessary, as the plants are rarely 

 super-luxuriant. They will come into 

 production in August and September. 



To obtain Seed. For the production 

 of seed, some fruit must be left of the 

 earliest forced production, as this is 

 found to vegetate and produce fruit in 

 much less time than that raised under 

 liand-glasses, from whence the seed for 



he open -ground crops is usually ob- 

 tained. The fruit that is left to produce 

 seed should grow near the root, and 

 upon the main stem, not more than one 

 being left on a plant. They must re- 

 main as long as the seed can obtain any 

 nourishment from the plant, which it 

 does whilst the footstalk remains green. 

 When this withers, and the rind of the 

 cucumber has attained its full yellow 

 hue, they may be gathered, and reared in 

 the sun until they begin to decay. The 

 seed then being scraped out into a vessel, 

 allowed to remain for eight or ten days, 

 and frequently stirred until the pulp at- 

 tached to it is decayed, may be cleansed 

 by frequent agitation in water : the refuse 

 rises to the top, and passes away with 

 the liquid. Being thoroughly dried by 

 exposure to the air for three or four days, 

 it is then fit for storing. Seed three or 

 four years old is found to be best for 

 use, producing less luxuriant but more 

 productive plants. 



Propagidion by Cuttings. Cuttings five 

 or six inches in length, taken from the 

 tops of bearing branches of vigorous 

 plants, about the end of September, or 

 early in October, planted in pots of rich 

 mould, and plunged in a hotbed or bark- 

 bed in a stove, will take root, if regularly 

 watered, in less than a fortnight, and 

 may then be planted in a hotbed for 

 fruiting, which they will do as soon as 

 the roots can support them, perfecting 

 the fruit before Christmas. They may 

 thus be had in succession, and being 

 propagated from year to- year, are ren- 

 dered, as it were, perennial. The plants 

 are less succulent, and consequently less 

 liable to damp off, or suffer from the low- 

 temperature to which they are liable ta 

 be exposed in severe seasons. Mr. 

 Mearns puts four inches and a half of 

 mould in pots nine inches deep, in which 

 the cuttings are planted and watered, 

 the tops of the pots being covered with 

 flat pieces of glass, which answers the 

 purpose of a hand-light, whilst the sides 

 of the pot afford a sufficient sh ad ~nn til the 

 roots are formed. When the points have 

 afforded their first crop, any small fruit 

 must not be waited for, but the plants be 

 cut back to the lowest shoot, the mould 

 gently stirred, and a little fresh spread 

 over the surface ; the same attention*, 

 must be paid them as before, when they 

 will shoot afresh, and produce a good 

 crop. 



