KITCHEN-GARDEN PLANTS. 



as plain a manner as I possibly can j and, the reader will 

 please to observe, that the directions given for the rearing 

 of cucumbers will also apply to the rearing of melons; 

 or, at least, they will thus apply in very great part, and 

 with those exceptions only which would be mentioned 

 under the head of melons. In Chapter III. we have seen 

 how a hot-bed is to be made j make such a bed, four 

 feet high, in the last fortnight of December. Make it, 

 however, for a frame of one light only j and let it extend 

 every way to a foot on the outside of the bottom of the 

 frame. Put on the frame as directed in Chapter III., 

 ascertain when the heat is what it ought to be according 

 to the rule laid down in that Chapter, cover the bed over 

 four inches deep with dry mould, 'a good provision of 

 which you ought to have prepared and kept in a shed. 

 Then, and at the same time, put about a bushel of earth 

 in a flattish heap in the middle of the bed, and lay about 

 another bushel round the in sides of the frame, at the same 

 time. Turn this earth over with your hand, once or 

 twice in twenty-four, or forty-eight hours, giving the bed 

 air in the middle of the day j then level the bushel of 

 earth very nicely, and put in some early-frame cucumber 

 seeds in as great number as you may want, at half an 

 inch deep, cover them over, and press the earth gently 

 <lown upon them. They will appear above-ground in a 

 very few days ; but, you must take care to give the bed 

 as much air as it will endure, even before the seed comes 

 up ; and, after that, air must be given in as great quantity 

 as the weather will permit, to prevent the plants from 

 being drawn up with slender shanks. If the weather be 

 very severe, litter or straw should be laid all round the 

 bed, and quite up to the top of the frame, to keep out 





