CHAP, vi.] THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. 191 
heat and care are required at this early 
season, the crop for a small garden may 
be sown about March. The great art is 
to grow the cucumbers long and straight, 
and to keep them green, with a beautiful 
bloom. For the first purpose, many cultiva¬ 
tors place a brick under the young fruit; 
and for the latter they leave on the plant 
abundance of leaves, and keep the ground 
moist, as the plant appears to thrive best 
when it has abundance of heat and moisture, 
and is kept in the shade. A dry heat, and 
. especially exposure to the burning rays of 
the sun, will make cucumbers flaccid and 
Pickling Cucumbers are generally sown in 
patches of ten or twelve seeds in each, in 
the open air; and when they come up, they 
are thinned out to four or five in each patch. 
They are sown in rich ground, and well 
watered; and as they grow, they are occa¬ 
sionally earthed up. 
Melons . — The culture of the melon is the 
same as that of the cucumber, except that 
the lowest heat of the seed-bed should not 
be less than 65°, and that of the fruiting 
