THE AMATEUR’S KITCHEN GARDEN. 
169 
and the hillocks disappear, and the body 0 f soil becomes a 
continuous bed. Into this bed we dibble cuttings of all kinds, 
double walls, shrubby veronicas, named sweet williams, any- 
thing and everything ; and thus the cucumber -house pays its 
rent again and again, the shade of the vines and the frequent 
sprinkling being favourable to the rapid rooting of cuttings of 
almost any kind. 
A House for Winter Cucumbers should be narrow with a 
steep roof, ample heating apparatus, and a brick pit in place 
of a stage for plants. In a spacious house, and especially in a 
house with roof of low pitch, it is much more difficult to keep 
cucumbers in health during winter, than in such houses as are 
here figured. In a mild winter any house made comfortable in 
respect of warmth will an- 
swer, but when the keen east | ^ 
wind blows icy daggers 
against the glass, and dis- 
covers every crevice in the 
woodwork, the arrange- 
ments must be thoroughly 
good, or there will be an 
end of the cucumbers. 
One of the most service- 
able cucumber houses we 
have had for winter work 
is represented in the sub- 
joined figure. 
This useful house is built 
against the end of a shed, 
and is twelve feet wide 
and twenty-three feet long. 
At a is the ground level, 
below which the pathway, 
b, is excavated a foot and 
a half, and at c the exca- 
vation is a half-foot deeper, 
to form a bed under the tank. The tank, d d, is fifteen feet Ion 
and is supplied by flow and return pipes, e, by a branch from 
the flow, to supply atmospheric heat. To keep up a circulation 
of air, as well as of heat, there is an aperture in the front wall, 
A which can be opened, or closed, at pleasure. When opened, 
air is admitted under the pipes, e, into a chamber, g, from 
cr 
