COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
January 
lOl 
placing boxes on pipes or fines. MTien once heated, 
I however, the lieat of the soil inside is very slowly parted 
I with. Wlien a pot is set upon a heated surface,’such as 
a flue or ))ipe, or, ratliei', on a tile or slate, to prevent 
the bottom being at times too hot, the whole becomes 
heated by conduction, and the soil inside is heated also. 
. But then there is a great countervailing disadvantage; 
' as soon, or as long, as the atmosphere of the house is 
lower in temperature than the pot, it will freely j)art 
with its heat by i-ariiatioii, and tbe loss of heat will 
farther be increased by the cooling effects of evaporation 
of moisture from its surface. As a general rule, there¬ 
fore, [ prefer pots to be set over the heating-medium, 
and wooden-boxes, when they are to stand exposed on 
kerb walls, platforms, or shelves. These may be vari¬ 
ously modified, so as to combine the advantages with¬ 
out the disadvantages. 
If the pot is covered loosely with a thickish cloth 
the loss of heat from radiation and evaporation will 
be greatly neutralized. If a covering of dry moss is 
placed on the surface of the soil the heat will be better 
retained. 1 have found it, also, of advantage to place 
a large pot inside of one still larger; setting the latter . 
I on tlie heating-medium, placing a good layer of crocks ^ 
: inside, setting the smaller pot level inside, and filling 
I up the space between them with crocks until within ; 
I an inch or so of the top, which was stuffed firm with ; 
j moss, with a few small holes, to be opened at times 
for circulation. This kept the soil in a very equal tem¬ 
perature— considerably above the temperature of the 
house, more esj)ecia,lly when the surface was covered at 
night with a dry non-conducting substance. I have de¬ 
rived the same advantages from wooden-boxes, by having 
their bottoms formed of zinc, with plenty of drainage I 
above, and some small semicircular draining pipes ; 
placed upright against the sides inside, with ihe upper ' 
end stopped, to allow the heated air to rise freely. 'I'he i 
same result was obtained by placing a few bars of iron 
across the bottom of the box, and on these placing pieces 
of slate or tile I’or a bottom. By such means the ' 
roots were generally maintained in a higher and more 
equal temperature than the general atmosphere of ' 
the house. After sunny days, in the case of boxes on 
})latforms and shelves, it will be advisable to cover tbe 
soil with a dry substance to retain the heat. Even when 
planted in a bed with a heating-medium below, I have 
often noticed the advantage of placing boards, or even 
slates, on the surface of the bed. The hitter have the 
advantage of absorbing heat from the sun during the 
day, but the disadvantage of radiating it freely at night ; 
but the advantage seems to be greater than the counter¬ 
vailing evil, which is but little felt when there is a con¬ 
tinued accession of heat from the heating-medium, and 
the loss would be reduced to a minimum by painting 
I or whitewashing tbe slates of a whitish colour. 
I This mentioning of colour leads me to notice, that when 
I Cucumbers are grown on shelves placed against the back 
; wall of a house, and not far from its top, the wall should 
be of a darkish colour, so that the rays of beat from the 
: sun may be absorbed ; for if tbe wall is white, there is 
great danger that the heat and liglit will be so reflected ! 
as to burn the foliage. The rest of the wall may be as | 
i white as you choose, except the part immediately above 
the Cucumbers. Injury is frequently done in pits and , 
frames from this cause, when steam, &c., have to bear ' 
the blame. 
; One inquirer is very doubtful if he can grow them in 
' pots on a Hue. For the general culture, hot-water pipes ; 
are certainly best. When very young, a flue has the I 
advantage of giving you one end of a house hotter than 
tlie other, and by shutting in a part you may thus easily 
gain from ■'3'^ to 10° moie than the average heat of the 
house. 1 have done very well with a good flue. I have 
, been frequently annoyed with old ones. I have had 
fine bearing plants next to destroyed by the forming and i 
bursting through ot deleterious gases, even ihougli no ! 
chinck could be perceived. If obliged to use flues, j 
place the drainage holes in such a manner that the ! 
water that escapes from the pots should fall beyond, I 
instead of on the flues. Even to create a moist atmos- I 
phere, I would recommend syringing the flue but seldom, j 
and then’ only when comparatively cool. It is better to 
have vessels of water fixed on the flue, and then the 
moisture will be in proportion to the heat. 
The kinds best suited for this purpose are Kenyon's 
Sion House, and Iinproved Kenyon, the last being longer 
when true. Ihese are all smooth Cucumbers, growing 
from eight to twelve, and the latter to eighteen inches 
long, and are very sweet and nice when not more than an 
inch in diametei'. These are by far the best for winter 
and eai'ly spiing. 'J he two first-named, especially, will 
flourish and bear profusely in a temperature about 10° 
lower than will suit the generality of larger kinds. 
M hatever the kinds, were I an epicure in Cucumbers, I 
would never allow any except young ones to be cut up 
for my use. If longer sorts are wanted for summer, all 
Irom the bi'eed of the old white-spined JMuncliester will 
answer well. One ot the very best of these, for bearing 
and good properties, is Ilunlers Prolific. To get these 
latter, however, fine, long, small-diametered specimens, 
the tcmpeiature should not be much below 70'° at night, 
and 80° during the day; an average of 00° at night, 
and (iO to 0o‘° and 70° during the day, will grow the 
Kenyon well, though a few degrees more will cause the 
fruit to swell off (Quicker. I have had them vei'y good 
when^the night temperature was frequently at from 50° 
to 55 —00'-' may be considered a safe average. This 
kind is, therel’ore, ])ecuiiarly fitted for bouses where 
other things are grown that do not like a high tempera¬ 
ture. 
I have mentioned the times of sowing; and, accord¬ 
ing to their wishes or their resources, our inquirers can 
now choose for themselves. 
One other little matter about the sowing in such cir¬ 
cumstances. I have known many fail, merely because 
they got plants from some one else that had been laised 
in a nice, sweet hotbed ; and that is the easiest way for 
getting nice, strong plants, if the weather is at all 
favourable. Ihe dry heat was too great a change. To 
get such plants to succeed, they must at first be kept in 
a vmy moist atmosphere, by frequent dustings Irom the 
syringe, and evaporating basins all round them, in¬ 
volving sucii niceties of application, that amateurs would 
be apt at first to overdo or underdo; and, as a conse¬ 
quence, the plants become either sickly, or go off alto¬ 
gether, merely from the sudden transition. I found, 
thereloi’e, that the plants did better when I’aised where 
they were intended to be grown, although they did not 
grow so ta,st at fiist. I allude, of course, to those sown 
now and for the three months to come. Those sown in 
autumn would do anywhere under glass, and the harder 
they were kept at first the better. Supposing, then, 1 
was to sow directly, in a house averaging 00° at night, 
the following would be an epitome of culture:— 
However that house was heated, one end would be a 
little hotter than the other, by the pipes or flue crossing 
there. Shut in a part, even by means of a mat, and 
that will increase the temperature. Obtain a large pot, 
fill it more than half full with erocks, the other part 
with rotten leaves, or moss, &c., and place the j)Ot on 
the heating-medium, and cover it over with a large bell- 
glass or hand-light. Sow the seeds in a four-inch or a 
six-inch pot, in soil rather inclined to be dry, covering 
them just a little—if charcoal dust is used instead of 
soil tor covering it will be as well,—and plunge this pot 
in the centre ot the large one, and cover with the bell- 
glass. In case the seeds should be old, or immature, do 
not water for several days, but allow the seed to absorb 
