16 ON THE CULTURE OF THE CUCUMBER 



be set to work immediately on obtaining it, 

 which is my method of proceeding. Some may 

 ask why, in 1818, I recommended a mixture of 

 leaf mould with the peat, when, in 1811 I found 

 it answer so well without ? My reply is, that, 

 like many others, I was not satisfied with doing 

 well, but wished to do better ; and I thought 

 that enriching the peat with vegetable mould 

 would improve it. Peat-earth alone has, how- 

 ever, unquestionably obtained the mastery with 

 me over every other soil for the cucumber on 

 dung beds in winter forcing. 



Let the seed be proved as before directed, 

 (see p. 2), and then sown, according to the 

 number of plants required, on Michaelmas Day, 

 the 29th of September, if for early fruit. Nine 

 seeds may be sown in a wide-mouthed thirty-two 

 size pot, or one nine inches in diameter, and 

 nine inches deep : and let them be placed round 

 the pot near the outside. The earth should be 

 peat, finely sifted, and a lump of the same soil 

 should be placed at the bottom of the pot for 



