THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COtJNTRY GENTLEMAN, Janttahy 25, 1859. 2G9 
appearance at table ; and, therefore, the instructions I intend to 
give on the subject are meant to be more for useful than for 
marvellous results ; and without the costly expenditure which 
must be incurred, if the directions of the fanciful Cucumber 
growers are followed. It is enough that I furnish plain instruc¬ 
tions for growing Cucumbers of reasonable and usable dimensions, 
at the smallest expense and trouble. 
First, then, we shall consider the cultivation in garden frames; 
and second, the mode of raising them in the open air. Of the 
varieties best adapted for frame culture, the Sion Souse, Man- 
Chester Prize, Victory of Suffolk, Man of Kent, and Cuthill's 
Slack Spine, are as good as any, and may be had of any respect¬ 
able seedsman; but there are numerous other varieties, each 
having their patrons and advocates. As a general rule, the seeds 
should be sown at least three weeks before the bed will be ready 
to receive them. Those who have not convenience for doing this, 
may save time by procuring plants from a neighbour, or pro¬ 
fessional gardener, or be indebted to a friend for raising the seed 
for them; but, fading either of these resources, seed may be raised 
as follows :— 
Early in January, procure three or four barrow-loads of hot 
dung, and form it into a small bed ; then cover the surface with 
three inches of soil, and on this place a common garden hand¬ 
glass. The seed is to be sown in flower-pots; but, before doing 
so, plunge it into a basin of cold water, to ascertain which are 
sound and which are not. Those that are sound will sink to the 
bottom, while those that are not will float on the surface. Take of 
those which are supposed to be sound, three, four, or six, accord¬ 
ing to the size of the pot, and sow them in a mixture of sandy 
loam, leaf mould, and rotten dung, covering them with about 
half an inch of the soil. The pot, or pots, are then to be placed 
under the handglass, on the hotbed, and in three or four days 
the seeds will have vegetated. Care must now be taken to pre¬ 
vent the plants from being too much drawn, by tilting the glass 
an inch or two, to allow the steam to pass off, and fresh air to be 
admitted; but if the weather is cold, the aperture should be 
covered with a piece of an old mat. When the plants have fully 
developed their seed-leaves, prick them out into four-inch pots, 
filled with warm soil, inserting three in each pot, equi-distant, 
near the edge; and give them a little water, which has been pre¬ 
viously warmed to the same temperature as the bed. Replace 
the pots under the handglasses, whieh should be kept close for a 
day and a night; but afterwads admit air occasionally, and see 
that they are closely covered during the night, with mats, which 
should always be removed early next morning. When the soil 
becomes dry, give a little tepid water to the roots, but on no 
account over the plants themselves. When the plants have de¬ 
veloped two rough leaves, pinch off the top of the leading shoot: 
this is called “ stopping.” They will now acquire strength, and 
begin shortly to branch out with two shoots ; and, if the fruiting- 
bed is ready to receive them, they may now be ridged out. 
The hotbed wherein the plants are to produce fruit being 
properly prepared, make a hillock of mould under the centre of 
each light, ten inches high, with a hole in the middle, six inches 
deep; and in these holes the plants are to be inserted, after being 
removed from the seed-pots. To shift the plants with the roots 
in a solid mass, without breaking the ball of earth, the left hand 
should be placed flat on the surface of the pot, with the fingers 
between the plants. The pot is then to be inverted, and, by gently 
tapping it on the edge of the frame, the ball of earth will fall into , 
the hand. When planted on the hillocks, the soil is to be drawn 
up, and pressed gently down round the plants, after which they 
should receive a little tepid water, to settle and establish them. 
In ten or twelve days after the planting, the first flowers will be 
produced, and, if the plants are healthy and vigorous, they will j 
produce runners, which should be stopped at every joint above 
the flower. As the vines gain strength, and are extended, they 
should be trained at regular distances from each other, and pegged 
down over the bed, and all weak and ill-placed shoots removed. 
When the roots begin to appear through the hillocks, let warm 
mould be added, until, by degrees, the whole of the bed is raised ] 
to an equal level. All the attention the plants now require, will 
be water when they need it, and air on fine days. If the heat I 
should be very strong, the lights may be left open an inch during 
nights ; and if the weather is cold, the frames should be covered j 
with mats, or some such material. 
Cucumbers arc also grown on ridges in the open air, under the 
protection of handglasses. These form a succession to those 
which have been produced in the hotbed; and also afford a suffi¬ 
cient supply for those who have not the convenience, or oppor¬ 
tunity, for raising them in a frame. The mode of procedure is, in 
this case, to raise the seedlings on heat at the end of March, and at 
the end of April to prepare a trench in an open and warm situation, 
at least a foot deep, and three feet and a half wide. This is to be 
filled with hot dung, which has been prepared in the same way 
as for a hotbed, to the height of eight or ten inches above the 
level of the ground. The earthing on the surface should be about 
eight or ten inches thick ; and, when warmed through, the plants 
should be ridged out and covered with a handglass, the empty 
pots being reserved for tilting the glasses when air is necessary. 
After the plants have been ridged out, they should be kept close 
for a day and a night; and in fine weather air may be admitted. 
If the sun should be powerful, the glasses are to be shaded with 
a mat, or some such covering. If the season is very wet at the 
time of planting, the ridges are to be protected. The best time 
for ridging out, is from the middle to the end of April; and the 
sort generally adopted for the purpose, is a good stock of Long 
prickly, or, as it is sometimes called, Ridge Cucumber. 
. In the southern parts of our island, there are many acres of 
Cucumbers cultivated as an open field crop, particularly in Bed¬ 
fordshire and some parts of Essex. For this crop, the ground 
should be well prepared, by digging and pulverising thoroughly. 
The seed is sown thinly in the first week of May, in shallow 
drills, which are four feet apart, and about an inch deep ; and 
when the plants have made two rough leaves, they are thinned 
to ten or twelve inches apart. Their after-culture consists in 
keeping them clear from weeds, and training the shoots on either 
side of the rows. If the weather is very hot and dry, the neck of 
the plants may receive a covering of long haulm, to keep them 
from being scorched, and the earth from being parched.— Rogek 
Ashpole. {To be continued .) 
TRADE LISTS RECEIVED. 
Spring Catalogue of a Choice Collection of Floriciiliurat, 
Vegetable, and Agricultural Seeds, by James Carter and Co., 
23S, High Holborn, London. —This is a very modest title for a 
work whieh is almost encycloptedic in its usefulness. Prepared 
with a botanical knowledge and correctness, such as we rarely meet 
with in trade catalogues, and furnished, as it is, with such a mass 
of horticultural information, we cannot but regard it as a literary 
and practically useful production of no ordinary merit. 
A Descriptive Catalogue of Fruits, cultivated and sold by 
Thomas Rivers, Sawbridgeworth, Serfs, 1858.—This is a very 
complete catalogue of choice fruits, and is not a mere enumera¬ 
tion of the varieties, but is filled with many useful remarks and 
much valuable information, of great service to the cultivator of 
fruits. 
A Priced Catalogue of New and Genuine Seeds, for the Year 
1859, sold by Milne, Arnott, and Co., Vauxhall. —This is a 
selection of kinds worthy of cultivation, rather than a collection 
for curiosity. These gentlemen seem to exercise considerable 
judgment in their choice of the articles they recommend to their 
customers, if we are to judge from the catalogue before us. 
Catalogues Nos. II. and III. of Bass and Brown, Sudbury, 
for 1859.—The former contains Azaleas, Geraniums, Cinerarias, 
and stove and greenhouse plants ; and the latter vegetable and 
flower seeds. Both are interspersed with numerous notes and 
observations, that cannot fail to be very serviceable to purchasers. 
A Catalogue of Fruit Trees; a Catalogue of Seeds; and a 
Catalogue of American Plants, Ornamental Trees and Shrubs, 
Sfc., sold by Robert M. Stark, Fdinburgh. —The former of these 
contains a good selection of fruits, each variety being accompanied 
witli useful remarks, arranged in a tabular form. 
A Mixed Catalogue of a Selection of Trees, Shrubs, and 
Plants, by John Grier, Waterliead Nursery, Ambleside, West¬ 
morland, is well got up, and interspersed with numerous notes, 
furnishing useful information. The catalogue is well and care¬ 
fully prepared, but is not free from the glaring blunders in 
botanical orthography, too frequent in nursery catalogues ; what 
mistakes do occur, however, are evidently errors of the press, or 
oversight, an d not of ignorance. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Various Correspondents (A. II. 0. II., Ihele, F. P. M., &e.) will find 
answers to their queries in a communication from Mr. Fish. 
Young Dwarf Pear and Appi.e-tree Pruning [Pomme et Poire ).— 
Shorten all the last year’s shoots, cutting off from the strongest onc-thinl 
of their length, and of the weakest one-half. In the summer, about 
