Lib. l. 
Of the Hiftory of Plants. 
,9ii 
the great Bur-docke,but more cut in or diuided: amongft which come forth faire yellow floures 
growing nakedly vpon their tender foot- (talks : the which beeing pall, the fruit commeth in place, 
.ofafooc in length, greene on the fide toward the ground, yellow to the Sun ward, ftraked with ma- 
ny fpots and lines of diners colours. The pulpe or meat is hard and fall like that of our Pompion 
The Place. 
Thefe kindes.of Cucumbers are planted in gardens in moll countries of the world. 
The Time, 
According to my promife heretofore made, I Iiaue thought it good and conuenientinthis place 
tofetdowne not onely the timeof fowingand fettingof Cucumbers, Muske-melons, Citruls 
Pompions, Gourds, and fuch like, butalfohow to fetor fow all manner and kindes of othercolde 
feed’s, as alio whatfoeuer ftrange feeds are brought vnto vs from the Indies, orotherhot Regions: 
<utdel. 
Firltofall in the middell of Aprill or fomevvhat fooner(if the weather be any thing temperate) 
you fhall caufe to be made a bed or banke of hot and new horfe dung taken forth of the ttab!e(and 
not from the dunghill) of an ell in breadth, and the like in depth or thickneffe,ofwhat length you 
pleafe, according to the quantitie of your feed .-the which bank you lhalcouerwith hoops or poles, 
that you may the more conueniently cotter the wholebed or banke with Mats, old painted cloth, 
flravvorfuchlike,tokeepeitfromtheiniurieof the cold froftie nights, and nothurtthe things 
planted in the bed : then fhall you cotter the bed all ouer with the moll fercilefl earth finely lifted, 
Italfe a foot thick, wherein you fhall fetor fow your feeds : that being done, call your Itraw or other 
couerture ouer the fame ; and fo let it reft without looking vpon it, or taking away of your couering 
for the fpace of fetten or eight daies at the mod, for commonly in that fpace they will thru ft tbem- 
felues vp nakedly forth of the ground:then mull you call vpon them in the hotted time of the day 
fome water that hath flood in the houfe or in the Sun a day before, becaufe the water focaft vpon 
them newly taken forth of a well or pumpe, will fo chill andcoole them being brought and nouri- 
fhed vp in fuch a hot place, that presently in one day you haue loft all your labour ; I mean not ond 
Jy your feed, but your banke alfo ■ for in this fpace the great heat of the dung is loft and fpent kee-B 
ping in memorie that euery nightthey muft be couered and opened when the day is warmed with 
, the Sun beanies : this muft be done from time to time vntill that the plants haue foure or fix Ieaues 
a piece, and that the danger of the cold nights is paft : then muft they be replanted verie curioufly, 
with the earth flicking to the plant, as neere as may be vnto the moft fruitfull place, and where the 
Sun hath moft force in the gardcn ; pvouided that vpon the remouing of them you muft couer them 
with fome Docke Ieaues or wifpes of draw, propped vp with forked ftickes,as well tokeepe them 
from the cold of the night, as alfo the heat of the Sun : for they cannot whiled they be young and 
newly planted, indure neither ouermuch cold nor ouermuchheat,vntill they are wel rooted in theit 
new place or dwelling. 
Oftentimes it fallethout that fome feeds are more franker and forwarder than the reft, which, 
commonly do rife vp very nakedly with long necks not vnlike to the flalke of a final! mufhrome,of 
a night old . This naked flalke mud you couer with the like fine eath euen to the greene Ieaues, ha- 
iling regard to place your banke fo that it may be defended from the North-windes . 
Obferue thefe inftnnftions diligently, and chen you fhall .not haue caufe tocomplaine that your 
feeds were not good,nor of the intemperancienf the climatfby reafon vvherof you can get no fruit ) 
although it were in the furtheft parts of the North of Scotland. 
The Names. 
The Cucumber is named generally Cucumis . in fhops, Cacumer : and is taken for that which the 
Grecians call «>»« w«.-in Latine,CKO/««/Strav«,orgardenCucumber:in High Dutch, CllCUltteflJ 
in Italian, Concomero : in Spanifli , Cogombro : id French, Concomhrc-. in Low Dutch, CotlCOtnillfterj % 
in Englifh,Cowcumbers and Cucumbers. 
he Temperature and Verities. 
All the Cucumbers are of temperature cold and moift in the fecond degree. They putrifie foon A 
in the ftomacke,and yeeld vnto the body a cold and moift nourifhment, and thatvqjy little, and the 
fame nor good. 
Thofc Cucumbers muft be chofen which are.green and not yet ripe : for when they arc ripe and B 
yellow they be vnfit to be eaten. 
The feed is coId,but nothing fo much as the fruit. It openeth'and clenfeth, prouoketh vrine, o- C 
peneth the (loppings ofthe liuer,helpeth the cheftand kings that are inflamed ; and being (lamped 
and outwardly applied in fteadofaclenfer,itmaketh the skin fmooth and faire, 
Cucumberffaith my Author) taken in meats, is good for the ftomack and other parts troubled D 
withheac.lt yeeldeth not any nourifhment that is good^infomuch as the vnmeafurable vfe thereof 
fillerh the veines with naughty cold humours. 
The feed (lamped and made intomilke.likeas they do with Almonds, or ftrained with milkeor g 
~ fweet 
