cue 



cue 



^ary to undermine the hillocks. As 

 the roots put out round the hillock, 

 they should be covered with a handful 

 or two of earth ; and if all goes on well 

 the hillocks will very soon require to 

 he extended, and the plants stopped 

 and pegged down. 



Ifand-gtaM Crops. Sow for these 

 towards the end of March or beginning 

 of April. The plants to he ridged out 

 towards the middle or end of April, 

 under hand-glasses. If the open warm 

 quarters are to he occupied by this 

 fruit, trenches one or one and a half 

 feet deep, should he dug out, by two 

 and a half feet wide, and ten feet 

 wide from row to row ; these to be 

 rilled with good fermenting dung that 

 has been well worked as for other hot- 

 beds. The trenches should be filled 

 six or eight inches above the common 

 level of the soil before the earth is put 

 on. Put on the earth in the form of a 

 ridge until the heat is up, which will 

 be in the course of three or four da> s, 

 when it may be levelled down, the 

 glasses put on, and the plants turned 

 out under them, and watered with tepid 

 water. The pots out of which the 

 plants were turned may remain to tilt 

 the lights with when a little air is re- 

 quired ; and when the plants begin to 

 till the lights two similar pots or half 

 bricks will be required to stand the 

 lights upon over the plants, after whicli 

 they may be trained out by degrees, 

 and as they begin to extend over the 

 beds the sides or alleys must be forked j 

 and well broken up, making a neat j 

 level surface for the plants to be trained 

 out upon. The plants will require j 

 stopping, training, and plenty of water I 

 in dry hot weather. 



Tempered nrc. Air is to be admitted j 

 every day as freely as contingent cir- j 

 ' i-nmstances will admit, and also at night, | 

 if the degree of heat and steam threat- 

 ens to be too powerful. It must never i 

 be neglected to cover the glasses at { 

 night, apportioning the covering to the 

 temperature of the air and bed. The I 

 heat should not exceed 80 in the hot- 

 test day, or sink below 05 during the 

 coldest night. If the heat declines, 

 coatings of hot dung are to be applied 

 in succession to the back, front, and j 



sides, if that source of heat be employ- 

 ed. As the mould appears dry, mode- 

 rate waterings must be given, care being 

 i taken not to wet the leaves. The best 

 I time for applying it is between ten and 

 two of a mild day, the glasses being 

 closed for an hour or two after perform - 

 1 ing it. The temperature of the water 

 must be between (Jo and 80. The 

 j interior of the glass should be fre- 

 j quently wiped to prevent the condensed 

 ! steam dropping upon the plants, which 

 ; is very injurious to them. 



Hot- Water Beds. Mr. Latter, one of 

 the most successful of cucumber grow- 

 ers, employs hot water to heat his beds, 

 and he gives us these leading points in 

 Ids culture. He sows in the first week 

 of September, and the vines from this 

 sowing will be in bearing and very 

 I strong before February. The seedlings 

 | are first shifted into sixty-sized pots, 

 I secondly into twenty fours, and lastly 

 into the largest size. If to be trained 

 on a trellis, the runner must not be 

 stopped until it has, trained to a stick, 

 grown through the trellis. The tem- 

 perature in the pit or frame is kept as 

 nearly I5o as possible during the night, 

 and from 7o to 85 during the day ; 

 air being admitted night and day, little 

 or much, according to the state' of the 

 weather. The bottom-heat ( Mr. Latter 

 is the champion of the hot -water sys- 

 tem) is kept as near as can be to 70, 

 although he finds that 85 does not 

 hurt the plants. He waters them witli 

 soft water until February, and then 

 employs liquid-manure, taking 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 de?p, 



