so as to receive the rays as little broken and refracted as possible. Water should not be applied at all, until vegetation has manifested itself, and afterwards, but sparingly, whilst the plants are young, especially in prolonged periods of dull sunless weather. Plants which are thus raised, should be planted out as soon as possible, when their fibres are least numerous, as a means of avoiding in part, the injuries to which they are exposed in transplantation.

When the plan of depositing the seeds in the hillock of soil is adopted, it is necessary to arrange the soil so that any subsequent additions made to it, may not have the effect of covering too deeply the roots of the plants, neither of burying the neck of the stem beneath the surface; it should be arranged so that this latter may remain elevated above the surrounding soil on the top of a slight mound, after the whole of the soil is adjusted for the roots. I have already mentioned that the depth of soil ought not to be at all considerable, but rather shallow than otherwise, so as to expose the roots as far as possible to the influence of the sun.

It will have been seen that the plan of raising young plants from seeds, has both its advantages and its disadvantages; and in order to avoid the latter, and secure some of the former, the seeds should be sown early in the autumn, whilst there is a sufficiency of heat and light, to mature the growth they make previous to the dull cheerless days which mark the near approach, and at length the arrival of winter. They will thus be endued with the “stamina” necessary to sustain them, through that trying period, and though not without difficulty, yet with comparative certainty, to reward the well-directed zeal of the cultivator. It is impossible to give any very minute directions as to the time of performing these operations of propagation, for like all other gardening operations, it is not at all requisite that they should be done on any particular day, nor ought they to be done except when natural conditions are favourable to success: from ten to twelve weeks generally elapse between the time of sowing the seeds and the production of fruit, according as the season may be favourable or otherwise.

The numerous hybrid varieties which are in cultivation, render it a matter of some importance to make choice of those most suitable to the purpose; these are however so continually changing, that it is useless to attempt a record of them. The Sion house Cucumber is perhaps the best of all suited for cultivation in the winter season. The principal features which are required in Cucumbers for winter forcing, are, precocity; compactness of growth, rather than luxuriance; prolificacy, rather than extreme length of fruit; and hardiness of constitution: these, are to the gardener far more important points, than those which entitle them to rank as “prize” varieties.

Chap. IV.

ON THE TREATMENT OF THE MATURE PLANTS.

From the time that the plants become established, which is the period of their existence now about to be considered, they require to have the elements of vegetable growth duly supplied to them, in order to secure their successful developement. It is not enough to plant them in proper soil, and duly to water them, unless attention is also paid to the temperature, as well as the constituents of the atmosphere to which they are submitted; neither will attention to these latter points be sufficient to ensure success, if at the same time, the former are neglected. A soil of suitable chemical, as well as mechanical composition, a pure and wholesome atmosphere, water promptly and properly applied, and heat duly regulated, are conditions which equally require minute care and attention in their adaptation; and these being applied upon the comprehensive, and perfectly harmonious principles of nature, will leave but little to be done in the shape of expedients, which are too frequently resorted to, as the means of counterbalancing either defective or unsuitable management. The application of these agents to the cultivation of the plant under consideration, in the winter season, will form the subjects of succeeding chapters. I will here briefly direct attention to the importance of light in the growth of plants, and then devote some space to the consideration of the subject of pruning and training.

Light is most essential to the perfect and healthy developement of vegetable organization, the performance of the functions essential to the health of plants being dependent on its agency. It cannot indeed be assumed that plants will not continue to grow, unless they are supplied with an intense degree of light; but it is certain that the successful nature of their growth, their maturation, and their fructification, are dependent in no ordinary degree upon the nature and force of its action; for without it, the vital energies of animated beings are unable to maintain and perform the processes of elaboration, and assimilation, upon which their nutrition depends. The mere extension of vegetable tissue, may indeed go on, though less satisfactorily, under the almost total privation of light, but with the exception of cryptogamic vegetation, the organs of fructification are not under those circumstances, produced at all: the stem may be formed, but does not become solid: the leaves may expand, but their condition is imperfect; and it is only by means of the full and complete action of these organs in the nutrition of plants, that the developement of the floral parts is brought about: the roots may take up fluids, and these may be conveyed in the natural upward channels, and then dispersed among the stems and the leaves; but it is the action of solar light, aided indeed by the natural condition of the elements supplying heat and moisture, which alone, by a process of elaboration, can convert this fluid, once crude and undigested, into the compound organic substances, such as lignin, gum, starch, gluten, &c. which in their turn, are destined to minister to the support of the organs of reproduction. Growth, that is mere extension, may go on in proportion as heat and moisture are supplied to plants, but light is the agent to whose especial influence we owe the production of their active properties and secretions, and the perfection of their fruit.

If then light is so indispensable to the vegetable frame, how important it is that the structures which we devote to the cultivation of such plants as the Cucumber, which are naturally habituated to an eastern clime, should be so designed, as to offer the least possible obstruction to its entrance: how important, too, that the glass we employ, which in its purest state, offers considerable obstruction, by refracting the rays of light, should be as transparent and untarnished as possible, so as to admit them as perfectly as can be practicable; instead of which, it is too often disfigured by an accumulation and deposit of filth, which, to say the least, must materially diminish their force: how important, moreover, that whatever coverings it may be necessary to employ during the night to prevent the outward radiation of heat, should be speedily removed in the morning, and kept off as long as they safely may be, in order to permit the inward radiation of light. When these matters are all duly attended to, our climate, at least during the winter, still offers obstruction enough to our success, in its mists, and fogs, its long dark nights, and dismal cloudy days, and therefore wisdom would teach us, to avail ourselves of all which we can grasp, by a course of untiring assiduity, and attention to such apparently