March.] THE KITCHEN GARDEN. IgJ 
or cold that may be prevalent at the time; and uncover in the 
morning, if a sunny day, so soon as it shines on the beds, or, if 
otherwise, as early as may be consistent with the safety of the 
plants; for their being too much debarred from the light, causes 
them to become discoloured and weakly. 
As the early plants raised last month will have now advanced 
considerably into fruitful runners, and show fruit abundantly, espe- 
cially cucumbers, let the runners or vines be trained out regularly 
along the surface of the bed at equal distances, and peg them down 
neatly with small hooked sticks. At this early season it will be of 
much utility to impregnate the young fruit of cucumbers with the 
farina of male blossoms. The flowers of cucumbers and melons 
are male and female, separate on the same plant, and the females 
produce the fruit; the males are often erroneously called false 
blossoms, and many persons in consequence of that notion pull 
them off; but they are so far from being false blossoms, that they 
are by nature designed to impregnate the female flowers to render 
them fruitful; for the antherse in the centre of the male blossom 
being furnished with a fine powder, which being dispersed on the 
stigma in the centre of the female, the fecundation is effected, and 
the fruit in a day or two after will begin to swell, and which in 
cucumbers, will generally, in about a fortnight, or wathin a few 
days under or over, according to the state of growth of the plants, 
be arrived to a proper size for cutting or gathering for the table, in 
young green fruit three or four, to five or six inches long or more; 
so that without the assistance of the male blossom, the females 
having the embryo fruit at their base wither and decay, and the 
infant fruit turns yellow and drops off". 
Therefore it is of importance to preserve a sufficiency of the male 
flowers, for the purpose of impregnating the females; and in the 
early culture of cucumbers, &c., it is eligible to carry some of the 
males to the female flowers; observing for this purpose to detach 
some new expanded male blossoms with the stalk to each, and 
holding the stalk between the finger and thumb, and pulling off" the 
petal or flower leaf surrounding the male organ, then with the re- 
maining antherae or central part, touch the stigma in the centre of 
the female, twirling it about so as some of the farina or male powder 
of the antherse may adhere thereto, a little of which being sufficient 
to effect the impregnation. 
This operation is essentially necessary to be performed by hand, 
to early plants that are shut up in frames, before the lights or 
glasses can be admitted sufficiently open to give free access to a 
large current of air, or flying insects, such as bees, &c., all of which 
assist in conveying the farina of the male blossoms to the females, 
as is evident in plants exposed to the open air. 
The above operation of fecundating, or as the gardeners term it, 
setting the fruit, sliould be performed the same day the flowers 
open and are fully expanded, which is the most essential period of 
their generative effect. 
The female or fruit-bearing flowers are readily distinguished at 
sight from the males; the former having always the embryo fruit 
