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which are laid two, and sometimes three or four, rows of boards to prevent the covering from being blown off by the winds. The mats laid on next to the glass are merely to keep the seeds and dust which may happen to be in the hay from getting into the frames among the plants. If the bed be high, in covering up, steps or short ladders must be used by those whose office it is to cover and uncover; and great care must be taken not to break or injure the glass.

Setting the Fruit.

The cucumber bears male and female blossoms distinctly on the same plant. The latter only produce the fruit, which appears first in miniature close under the case, 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 necessary, by the dispersion of their farina, to impregnate the female blossom; the fruit of which will not, otherwise, swell to its full size, and the seeds will be abortive. The early plants under the 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 the impregnation. At 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. Take off a male blossom, detaching it with part of the foot-stalk; hold this between the finger and thumb; pull away the flower-leaf close to the stamens and central part, which apply close to the stigma of the female flower, twirling it a little about, to discharge thereon some particles of the fertilizing powder.

Proceed thus to set every fruit, as the flowers of both sorts 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 consequence, the young fruit will soon be observed to swell freely Cucumbers attain the proper size for gathering in about fifteen or twenty days from the time of setting; and often, in succession, for two or three months or more, in the same bed, by good culture. The above artificial operation will be found both necessary and effectual in forcing the cucumber, between the decline of autumn and May, while the plants are mostly shut under glass.

In plants more fully exposed to the free air the impregnation is effected mostly or wholly by nature. To save the Seed.

Select some best summer fruit, from good productive plants, which permit to continue in full growth till they become yellow. Then cut them from the vine, and place them upright on end, in the full sun, for two or three weeks, when they may be cut open, and, the seed being washed out from the pulp, spread it to dry and harden; then put it up in papers or bags for future sowing. It will reraain good many years; and seed of three or four years' keeping is preferable for early frame crops.

Insects and Diseases.

The thrips sometimes attack early cucumbers, and are to be destroyed by fumigation. The red spider rarely makes its appearance; when it does water must have been improperly withheld. Some soils produce canker in the shoots, especially where they branch from the main stem. When this is the case, the only resource is to renew the soil and the plants.

To grow Cucumbers under Hand-Glasses. that generally practised: The seeds are sown about the middle of April, in a cucumber or melon bed, add when they come up they are potted out into small pots, two or three plants in each, and kept properly watered, and stopped at the first or second joint. About the middle of May a warm situation, where the mould is very rich, is pitched on, and a trench dug out about two feet deep, three broad, and the length proportioned according to the number of lights it is intended for. This breach is filled with good warm dung, and when the dung is come to its full heat it is covered over with eight, ten, or twelve inches deep of rich mould. The glasses are then set upon it about three feet distant from each other, and when the mould gets warm under them the plants are turned out of the pots, with their balls whole, and plunged in the mould under the glasses, and a little water given them to settle the mould about their roots, the glasses set over them; and, after they have made roots and begin to grow, in fine days they are raised a little on one side to let the plants have free air; and, as the weather gets warmer, air is given more plentifully, to harden the plants, so that they may be able to bear the open air and run from under the glasses.

When the plants begin to fill the glasses, they are trained out horizontally, and the glasses set upon bricks to bear them from the plants. After this the plants require nothing more than to be supplied with water when the summer showers are not sufficient, and to stop them when they run too thin of branches, and thin them of leaves or branches when they are likely to be overcrowded.

In warm summers and in warm situations, by this mode of management, the plants will bear plentifully for about two months, provided they be not attacked by insects or weakened by diseases.

To prevent the Irregular Growth of Melons.

Melons frequently, in certain situations, lose their circular form and grow larger on one side than the other, and these misshapen fruits are always bad. To remedy this, take a small forked stick, in proportion to the size of the melon, and thrust it into the ground as nearly as possible to the tail of the fruit, taking the precaution to lay a little moss between the two prongs, and suspend the melon to the fork. In a few days the melon will resume its form, when the fork may be removed, and the operation is finished. The quality of the fruit remains undiminished.

To produce Mushrooms.

If the water wherein mushrooms have been steeped or washed be poured upon an old bed, or if the broken part of mushrooms be strewed thereon, there will speedily arise great numbers.

To produce New Potatoes throughout the Winter Months.

Prepare a proper quantity of red sand, of a rather loamy nature, and mix it up with a portion of lime in powder, viz., about one-third, about fourteen days before using it. This soil is to be spread about three inches thick at the bottom of any old wooden box, or on a very dry brick cellar floor. The cellar ought not to be exposed to the frost, nor yet too much confined from the air.

Procure a measure or two of large potatoes of a prior year's growth; the sorts preferred are the red-apple potatoes and the pink-eyes of purple potatoes. Set these on the soil whole, about three inches apart, with the crown or the principal eye to the soil in preference; but put no soil over them. Plant about the 20th of September, which allows from ten to twelve weeks for their growth; The following method is given by McPhail as ❘ the old potatoes also throw out numerous sprouts or stalks, with many potatoes growing on them. ❘ ground. If you want more than one row of cir- The original potatoes for planting whole, for sets in September, should be such as were of perfect growth in the October of the preceding year, and well preserved during the winter. The sprouts which shoot from them should be removed by the end of April; and these sprouts, which will be from six to twenty-six inches long, may be planted with all their fibres in a garden, for a first crop; about June 15 the potato sets may be sprit again, and the sprouts planted for a second crop; and in September the potato sets may be sprit a third time, and the sprouts of the last produce thrown away as useless. At the end of September the original or seed potato is to be gently placed on the soils, as before mentioned for a Christmas crop. At the end of three months at furthest the old potatoes should be carefully twisted from the new ones, and the sprouts taken off the old potato, and the old potato is then to be placed on its bottom or side, on a fresh bed of soil prepared as before, and left to produce another crop from fresh eyes placed next the soil: as you are to observe that the old potato should not be set or placed twice on the same side, and you must take care at that time to remove the sprouts, to prevent the moisture from rotting the old potato. By the above method may be had four crops of new potatoes from one potato, exclusive of those produced from the sprouts planted in the garden in April and June, from which may be obtained two crops of well-grown potatoes in September and October, weighing from ten to twelve ounces each.

The crops were very plentiful, in proportion to the quantity planted.

The potatoes are remarkably well flavored, and may be kept longer without prejudice after gathering, before dressed, than potatoes grown in the natural ground.

To raise Peas in Autumn.

The purple-flowered peas are found to answer best for a late crop in autumn, as they are not so liable to be mildewed as many of the other sorts, and will continue flowering till the first crop stops them. These peas may be sown in July, August, or so late as the first week in September, if sown in a warm, sheltered situation, and in a soil inclining to sand. Soak the peas in warm milk, and after you have drawn the drills water them before you sow the peas; it is best to sow them towards the evening. If the autumn should prove very dry they will require frequent watering. When peas are sown before winter or early in spring, they are very apt to be eaten by mice. To prevent this, soak the peas for a day or two in train oil before you sow them, which will encourage their vegetation and render them so obnoxious to the mice that they will not eat them.

To sow Peas in Circles instead of Straight Rows.

It is a great error in those persons who sow the rows of tall-growing peas close together. It is much better in those sorts which grow six or eight feet high to have only one row, and then to leave a bed ten or twelve feet wide for onions, carrots, or any crops which do not grow tall. The advantages which will be derived are, that the peas will not be drawn up so much, be stronger, will flower much nearer the ground, and in wet weather can be more easily gathered without wetting you. But instead of sowing peas in straight rows, if you will form the ground into circles of three feet diameter, with a space of two feet between each circle, in a row thirty feet long, you will have six circles of peas, each nine feet, in all fifty-four feet of peas instead of thirty, on the same extent of cles leave a bed of ten or twelve feet before you begin another. For the very tall sorts four feet circles will afford more room for the roots to grow in, and care must be taken by applying some tender twigs or other support, to prevent the circles from joining each other. This method is equally applicable for scarlet beans.

To prevent Mice from Destroying early-sown Peas.

The tops of furze, or whins, chopped and thrown into the drills, and thus covered up, by goading them in their attempts to scratch, is an effectual preventive. Sea sand strewed pretty thickly upon the surface has the same effect. It gets in their ears and is troublesome.

To cultivate Common Garden Rhubarb.

It is not enough to give it depth of good soil, but it must be watered in drought, and in winter must be well covered with straw or dung. If this be attended to your rhubarb will be solid when taken out of the ground, and your kitchen, if a warm one, will soon fit it for use.

To force Rhubarb.

Cover plants of the rheum hybridum with common garden-pots (number twelve), having their holes stopped. These are covered with fermenting dung and the plants come very fine and quickly, but are much broken by the sides and tops of the pots. After it is all well up the dung and pots are entirely taken off and large hand-glasses are substituted in their stead, thickly covered with mats every night and in dull weather. This process greatly improves their flavor, and gives a regular supply till that in the open air is ready for use.

Another Method.

Inclose and cover the bed with open framework, around and on which place the dung, and with this treatment the rhubarb will come up very regularly, be of excellent quality and want far less attention than is required by the former method, for the frame-work renders hand-glasses or any othen cover unnecessary. Care should be taken to lay the dung in such a manner that the top may be partly or wholly taken off at any time for the purpose of gathering or examination without disturbing the sides. This is a superior method of forcing the rheum hybridum, but still the forcing by pots will answer very well for any of the smaller-growing species.

Third Method.

To those who dislike the trouble of either frames or pots, it may be useful to know that rhubarb will come in much quicker by being covered about six inches thick with light litter; care should be taken in putting it on and removing it that no injury be done to the plants.

To dry Rhubarb.

The best method of drying rhubarb is to strip it off its epidermis. This is a long operation, but both time and expense are spared in the end by the promptness and regularity of the drying.

Many cultivators of rhubarb on a large scale have repeated the experiment and have met with the most decisive results.

To cure Rhubarb.

The method of curing the true rhubarb is as follows: Take the roots up when the stalks are withering or dying away, clean them from the earth with a dry brush, cut them in small pieces of about four or five inches in breadth and about two in depth, taking away all the bark, and make a hole in the middle and string them on pack