54 
AMERICAN KITCHEN GARDENER 
and female blossoms distinctly on the same plant. * latter only produce 
the fruit, which appears first in miniature, close under he base, even before 
the flower expands. There is never any in the males- but these are placed 
in the vicinity of the females, and are absolutely nec^sary, by the disper¬ 
sion of their farina, to impregnate the female blossom; the fruit of which 
will not otherwise swell to its full size, and the s«»a<i will be abortive. 
The early plants under glass, not having the full current of the natural air, 
nor the assistance of bees and other winged insects to convey the farina, the 
artificial aid of the cultivator is necessary to effect f he impregnation. A*, 
the time of fructification, watch the plants daily ; and as soon as a female 
flower and some male blossoms are fully expanded, proceed to set the fruit 
the same day, or next morning at furthest. Take off* a male blossom, de 
taching it with part of the footstalk. Hold this between the finger aw' 
thumb; pull away the flower-leaf close to the stamens and anthera or cen 
tral part, which apply close to the stigma or bosom of the female flowes 
twirling it a little about, to discharge thereon some particles of the fertiliz 
ing powder. Proceed thus to set every fruit, as the flowers of both sort'! 
open, while of a lively, full expansion; and generally perform it in the 
early part of the day ; using a fresh male, if possible, for each impregnation, 
as the males are usually more abundant than the female blossoms In^con 
sequence, the young fruit will soon be observed to swell freely. Cucumbers 
attain the proper size for gathering in about fifteen, eighteen, or twenty day* 
from the time of setting; and often in succession, for two or three months oi 
more, in the same bed, by good culture. The above artificial operation wiP 
be found both necessary and effectual in forcing the cucumber, between th? 
decline of autumn and May, while the plants are mostly shut under glass 
In plants more freely exposed to the free air, in the increasing warmth o' 
spring, and in having the full open air in summer, from June or July ti h 
September, the impregnation is effected mostly or wholly by nature. Th^ 
male flowers, being by some ignorantly denominated false blossoms, are ofter 
plucked wholly off* as useless, under a notion of strengthening the plant: bu* 
this should not be generally done. Where crowded too thick in clusters 
some may be thinned out moderately ; but their agency being absolute!) 
necessary in fertilizing the females, they should only be displaced as they 
begin to decay, except where they are superabundant/ 5 
Principal summer crop .—“The ground being dug and smoothed, line it into 
squares of six feet. In the center of each, dig a hole about fourteen inches 
deep; fill this with well rotted dung, and sow on it five or six cucumber 
seeds: cover these with mould, and, when they rise and take a rough leaf, 
select two to each hill, and draw out the remainder. This sowing cannot be 
safely made in our climate till the 10th of May. For the fall and pickling 
crops, you must sow r the first or second week in July. 55 — Armstrong. 
Those cucumbers, which are sowed as late as July, will not require top- 
