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LVI. On Coverings for Cucumber Frames. By Alexander 

 Seton, Esq. F. H. S. 



Read March 2, 1819. 



H avi ng adopted a kind of night covering for Cucumber 

 frames, which is extremely efficacious, I think a description 

 of it may produce some benefit ; for, though I do not ima- 

 gine that it will be found to deserve any credit on the score 

 of novelty, being one of those simple contrivances which na- 

 turally suggest themselves to a person in the course of prac- 

 tice, yet, as I have not observed it in use, I conclude that it 

 is either not generally known, or that the principles on which 

 it is founded are not sufficiently attended to. It consists of 

 a portable roof of thatch, and is made in the following man- 

 ner. Place parallel to each other two strong laths, of a length 

 a little exceeding that of the frame, as measured from back 

 to front, and at a distance equal to its breadth, if not exceed- 

 ing four feet; to these bind cross pieces at right angles, 

 about a foot distant from one another, to the extent of the 

 length of the frame so that the two first long pieces shall 

 project a little beyond the extreme cross piece at each end. 

 Over the frame, thus made, spread a mat, and over that bind 

 a layer of straw, from three to six inches thick, according to 

 the purpose for which the covering may be intended, begin- 

 ning by a course across at one end, and making the subse- 

 quent courses to overlap it and one another successively, in 



