OF EARLY CUCUMBERS. 



17 



When you find that the bed is properly puri- 

 fied, put in the sifted leaf mould. A three-light 

 box will require a large barrow-full ; the quan- 

 tity for a one-light being about four shovels. 

 After this, add to the wrapping some sweet litter 

 or hay, increasing it to nearly the top of the 

 boxes, and apply about two pots of water to 

 each of the cavities, taking care to fill them up 

 to nearly the tops of the boxes, with short sweet 

 mulshy litter. This is a point but very little 

 known, yet of the greatest importance in the 

 culture of cucumbers ; for when the weather 

 begins to grow severe, if there is no cavity, and 

 the boxes are placed close together, in the usual 

 manner, the outsides are very liable to become 

 damp, and the cold, penetrating through, is 

 certain of doing the plants material injury. 



Put a pot of plants in the middle of a three- 

 light box, and at night admit nearly two inches 

 of air, covering them with a single mat ; and if 

 on the following day the plants look well, they 

 may be safely ridged out. 



D 



