330 Remarks upon the stale of 



the roots are an inch long they are ready for planting. The 

 ground is thus prepared: — a hole is dug a foot deep, and 

 eighteen inches square; fill this to within four inches of the 

 top with old mulch and well rotted horse manure. It is then 

 filled up and raised a few inches above the surface with light 

 garden mould, sloping a little to the south. Four or six of 

 the plants are then set in shallow holes near the centre of the 

 hill, and the cotyledons or seed leaves lightly covered. A box 

 eight inches deep at one end and six inches at the other, of a 

 size to receive a pane of ten by twelve glass, which is puttied 

 into a groove similar to a window-sash, is then placed over 

 each hill. To promote the absorption of caloric, the surface 

 of the hill should be sprinkled with charcoal powder or soot. 

 When the box is well bedded in the soft earth, raise a low 

 embankment around the outer edge with the trowel, to exclude 

 the cold air. In two or three days the plants will appear 

 above ground, and by covering the glass with a bit of board or 

 shingle at night they will stand a smart frost unharmed. This 

 cucumber, when fully grown, is only from four to five inches 

 long, and two inches in diameter; and is the most tender, juicy 

 and high flavored variety of the whole tribe. I have now cul- 

 tivated it for twenty years, and preserved the seed pure from 

 any other mixture. In this climate they are fit for the table 

 generally early in June. As the plants rise to the under sur- 

 face of the glass, the box is raised by a bit of brick, or wholly 

 removed. This variety runs but little, and they will produce 

 better by sticking them as you do peas. 



Early Peas. 



The early May pea, or early Charlton, grown in the open 

 ground, is generally fit for the table by the 20th of May, if 

 planted in March. In years past I made a practice of pre- 

 serving the first formed pods for seed, and in this way accele- 

 rated their ripening by about a week. The same course has 

 also hastened the growth of the early Russian cucumber fully 

 as much. In our deep rich soil the " pie plant," or iJheum 

 undulata, grows with great vigor and luxuriance, and we have 

 it for use early in April or in March, if protected and warmed 

 by covering tlie roots with a flour barrel. I have grown it 

 for ten or twelve years, and consider it one of the most valua- 

 ble productions of the garden. 



