C U C U M I S. 4.53 
weather be fevere, two or th.ree mats may be laid on, 
with hay between them if there fhould be occafion ; re¬ 
membering not to let them hang much over the Tides of 
the frame. During the firft fortnight examine carefully 
the date of the hot-bed every day, left the heat fhould 
become too violent and burn the young plants ; the molt 
certain indications of this are, the fickly hue of the 
plants themfelves, and a whitifh mouldy appearance at 
the bottom of the hillocks. This rnuft be taken away 
before it reaches the roots of the plants, and a quantity 
of frefh earth put in its place. If the heat continues too 
violent, more of the burnt mould muff be removed, 
plenty of air mu ft be given to the plants if poffible, 
and holes in lift be made in the fides of the bed, by large 
flakes thruft into the dung in different places. Some 
perfons pour water into the dung, to affuage the burning 
heat of the bed. As foon as this danger is over, earth 
or mould the whole beds at different times to the depth 
of eight or ten inches; laying the mould for a day or 
two againft the fides and ends of the frames, to acquire 
a due degree of warmth. 
Water moderately one in a week or ten days, or, if the 
■weather be warm, twice in that time ; and, as the feafon 
advances, ftill oftener. The belt time is between ten 
and two o'clock. Let the chill be taken off the water; 
give it between the vines, except in very fine weather, 
when it may be fprinkled moderately all over the leaves; 
but if the fun fhould fhine hot, throw a mat over the 
glades for an hour or two. Whenever you water, fhut 
down the lights for half an hour or an hour after. 
Train the plants by pruning or flopping. In ten 
days or a fortnight after the firft flopping, the plants 
will put forth two or three lateral (hoots or runners ; 
when thefe are advanced two or three joints in length 
without (hewing fruit, flop each runner at the third 
.joint, to promote their putting out fruitful (hoots. As 
the runners advance, train them regularly at equal dif- 
tances, pegging them down occafionally. When the 
plants (hew fruit, which may be expended in three or 
four weeks, if it have not appeared fooner from the firft 
or fecond. joint, be particularly attentive to keep up a 
regular heat in the beds ; having previoufly laid dry lit¬ 
ter or fern round them, then give them proper linings of 
dung. As foon as the heat is confiderably abated, line 
the back of the bed diredlly a foot and half wide ; in a 
week after line the front; and in ten or twelve days af¬ 
ter that, fhake up the firft lining, adding a little frefh 
dung to it, and doing the fame by the fecond lining : al¬ 
ways laying two or three inches of earth on the top of 
the dung, which fhould be fix inches higher than the 
bed, to allow for fettling. 
In fetting the fruit, the male bloftom fhould be ap¬ 
plied to the female on the day it opens, or the day after. 
It is the cuftom with fome to whelm the former over 
the latter, and to leave it there ; but it is better to ap¬ 
ply the anthene to the middle of the ftigmas when they 
are in a proper ftate to difeharge the pollen, and then to 
throw the male bloffom away, unlefs males are fcarce, 
which fome times happens early in the year, and then 
one may be ufed to impregnate two or three females. 
Obferve not to wet the flowers at this period, for that 
prevents the impregnation of the fruit. 
It now remains only to cutoff the weak, long-jointed, 
barren, (boots, and to thin out the weakeft and mod 
draggling runners, fo as to be able to train the main vine 
and principal bearing fide-runners in a regular manner : 
to clear away worn-out runners and decayed leaves, and 
to thin the clufters of male bio (fonts where they are too 
large, and to pick them off as they decay ; as the feafon 
advances, to (hade the glaffes with a fingle mat occafion¬ 
ally on fcorching days; to give them more air by fetting 
up the glaffes higher in front as well as behind ; to wa¬ 
ter them from one to four times a-week, according to 
the heat of the weather, and when the plants are grown 
fo large as to prefs againft the lights, and fo crowded as 
i 
to fliade the fruit too much, to cut out fome of the 
leaves, to raife the frame three or four inches ; and, fi¬ 
nally, in the middle of June, if the weather be fettled, 
to raife the frames fo high, that the vines may be trained 
under them, along the (ides of the bed, covering them 
with mats at night for the firft week ; and thus leaving 
them till fome time in July, when the frames may be 
taken off, and the plants will want no more protection, 
except in heavy rains, and at night when the weather is, 
not quite propitious. 
In this early frame-culture of cucumbers, it is necef- 
fary to remember, not to depend wholly upon the firft 
fowing, but to continue to fow a little feed occafionally, 
pricking the plants out fo as to have them of two or 
three different growths, to fupply the place of fucli 
plants as do not thrive, or may be cut off by the feve- 
rity of the feafon, burning, (teaming, &c. And, if they 
are not wanting for thefe purpofes, they will be ready 
for the fecond frame-crop. Two crops cultivated in 
this manner, will furnifh a fucceflion of fruit till thofe 
which are under hand and bell glades come in, and thefe 
will be fucceeded by thofe in the open ground ; by 
which means there will be a conlfant fupply of fruit 
from February or March to the middle or end of 
September. 
Early cucumbers are in general much efteemed in pri¬ 
vate families, and are a valuable article for the murket- 
gardeners, for in March they often fetch thirty (hillings 
a dozen, and in April from ten to fifteen (hillings a dozen 
is a common price. After this time the price falls every 
week till Auguft, when thofe in the natural ground come 
in, a dozen of which will fometimes fcarcely fetch a 
penny. The quantity of thefe fold for eating and pick¬ 
ling is prodigious ; iu the fummer of 1794, above ten 
thoufand bufhels were difpofed of in one week from the 
village of Sandy in Bedfordfhire ; the gardeners of 
which fupply the towns and villages fifty miles round 
with that and the other produce of their gardens. 
Such perfons as are not contented with having cu¬ 
cumbers from February or March to September, may 
have them at Chriftmas, or foon after, by fowing in Oc¬ 
tober, and treating them in the manner above diredted. 
Thofe in the open ground may be continued through 
October and part of November, by placing frames over 
fome of the beft holes, and protecting them with lights 
during the night and in wet weather. The fucceflion 
may alfo be continued by (owing in the middle of July, 
and treating them in the fame manner; or, by fowing at 
the end of July, and tranfplanting into a (lender hot-bed 
towards the end of Auguft ; or by fowing in a flight 
hot-bed at the end of Auguft, and tranfplanting into 
another about the middle of September. By thefe 
means may a fucceflion of cucumbers be kept up during 
the latter autumnal and winter months, from the time 
that thofe in the open ground go oft, till the return of 
fuch as are raifed by the early frame culture in March, 
But thefe crops cannot be expected to fucceed like the 
others, nor in general will they produce any tiling more 
than a few fruit rather for curiofity than ufe. 
Cucumbers may alfo be produced in hot-houfes or 
pine-ftoves at any time in the winter or very early in the 
ipring, with lefs trouble than in hot-beds, but not with 
the lame certainty of a crop. For this purpole the 
feeds may be fawn in October, and from that time every 
fortnight during winter, in fmall pots of rich earth 
plunged in the bark-pit, and at two or three days old 
pricked out into other pots, which rnuft be alfo plunged 
into the bark-bed. Having treated the plants like thofe 
for ridging out in the early frame-culture, when they 
are ready to put out runners, tranfplaqt them into large 
pots, or rather into boxes three feet long, a foot wide at 
top, nine inches at bottom, and ten inch.es deep. Plunge 
them half way in the bark-bed, or fet them on the top 
of the flues; elevating them ten or twelve inches, or 
place them by means of brackets twelve or fifteen inches 
