174 
THE AMATEUR’S KITCHEN GARDEN. 
may be adopted for the use of fermenting material, and where 
stable manure is always at hand, will be found economical as 
well as effective. The subjoined figure represents a serviceable 
pit for forcing cucumbers and kidney beans. The aspect is 
due south ; the walls are 4-inch brickwork without pigeon 
holes ; the width is five feet, and a length of twelve feet may 
be considered sufficient to begin with. It is surrounded with 
a trench two feet wide, enclosed by a 9-inch wall. The in- 
terior must have a deep bed of rubble, and on that a bed of 
two feet depth of soil, the surface of the soil being two-and- 
a-half feet from the glass. The heat is obtained by filling the 
trench with manure fresh from the stable, and occasionally 
turning it to renew the fermentation, and of course removing 
and replacing with fresh as it rots down and loses power. Very 
much will depend on management, but if the start be right a 
little pit of this kind will produce an immense quantity of 
fruit, and will be especially valuable in the early months of 
the year. 
Winter Culture of the Cucumber. The secrets of pro- 
ducing cucumbers during the dull months of winter, in a con- 
dition fit for use, are few in number, and by no means difficult 
to understand. In the first place, it is no use to attempt to 
grow them, excepting in a properly constructed and sufficiently 
heated house. Hipped or span-roofed houses are the best, for 
