254 FRUIT CULTURE UNDER GLASS. 



operation. Water will not be required, if the weather 

 1)6 duU and sunless, till they have rooted from their 

 stems. Care, however, must be taken that a sudden 

 sun-burst does not overtake them in a dry state. When 

 watered, give as much as will wet 'the whole ball. 

 Their vital action is weak, and in consequence their 

 power of decomposition weak also ; and the object 

 being a sturdy well-proportioned plant, a stiff stem, and 

 leaves of good substance, it is one that a superabundance 

 of water effectually defeats. The best way is to grow 

 with as small an amount of water as possible ; a mini- 

 mum rather thsfii a maximum temperature ; and to 

 give as much fresh air daily as will dry the foliage once 

 in the twenty-four hours. There is no surer sign that 

 all is going on well than when, on uncovering the frame 

 in the morning, dew-drops are studded round the edges 

 of the leaves. 



The state of the bed, after the first fortnight or three 

 weeks, must be carefully watched, and a heap of manure 

 and leaves, in a hot state, should be in readiness to line 

 the bed with, whenever there is any difficulty in keep- 

 ing the heat at 70°. A little should be cut off the out- 

 side of tlie bed all round, and holes bored into it with a 

 stake, so as to allow the heat from the lining to act into 

 it. The lining should not be less than two feet wide, 

 and as carefully made up as the bed itself ; and it should 

 be covered so as to prevent rains from washing the heat 

 out of it suddenly. In fact, great attention must be 

 paid to the bed in this respect, to keep up a steady 

 temperature. And as all know who have thus reared 

 young cucumbers, constant watchfulness must be exer- 

 cised in the matter of air-giving. Cold, frosty winds,, 

 with sudden sun-bursts after dull weather, make thes& 



