The Seed-bed For October:
To be sown from the 10th to the 20th of the Month.
One load of horse-dung, or twenty barrows-full, will be sufficient for a
one-light box, and let it be put together at least three weeks before
making the bed, in a round
or square heap, being particular in well
treading it down. If the dung is dry, it will be necessary to give it
some water; if very dry, a dozen pots will be required. Let it lay in
this state a week, and then turn it, shaking the outsides of the heap
into the middle, and give it some more water. In doing this, it is
requisite that the heap should be well shook to pieces, and trod down.
Let it lay another week, at the expiration of which, observe the same
directions as before given, applying the quantity of water in proportion
to the dry nature of the dung. At the end of the third week, it will be
in a proper condition to make use of, as by that time it will be
sufficiently moist and hot, the necessary state in which it should be,
before the formation of the bed.
As much depends upon the nature of the dung, and its proper condition,
great attention should be paid, and some judgment exercised in the means
best calculated to prepare it for a state of fermentation. The most
certain method that can be adopted, and likely to ensure a beneficial
result is, in the summer months, to pack the dung you intend to make use
of for the October seed-bed as close together as possible, taking care
to keep it dry, that it may retain its virtue. This sort of dung is far
preferable to that newly made, being less rank and not so liable to
burn; and when under a state of preparation, by turning and moistening,
as before described, it will be in a much better condition than any that
can be fresh procured.
Before forming the bed, let the bottom be made in the following
manner:--Raise the ground about six inches above the level with road
sand or mould, upon the top of which place some fagots, or other kind of
wood, to the height of a foot, in order that the bed may be well
drained. If there is an insufficiency of dung, you can add a foot of dry
rubbish, such as strawberry or asparagus halm, or any other loose stuff.
Let the bottom be extended nine inches wider than the frame you intend
to make use of, the height of the bed being at the back four feet, and
in the front, three feet nine inches. Beat it well down with a fork;
then put the box on, and fill it three parts full with the shovellings
of the dung that is left; after which, place on the light, and let it be
close shut down. As soon as you discover the heat rising, admit air by
opening the frame about an inch: when it increases, so as to become very
hot, admit more air, by extending the aperture to two inches. It must
remain in this situation about a week; then fork it up above a foot
deep, and if caked together, or in the least dry, give it more water.
From two to four pots is generally sufficient; but the quantity must be
regulated by the state of the bed. Here it is necessary to observe, that
moisture is of most important consequence to the seed-bed, and nothing
is so well calculated to sweeten and cleanse it from impurity as water.
In two or three days after forking up, it will be necessary to take off
the box and light, for the purpose of making the bed even. In doing
this, stir it up from about the depth of a foot, and shake it to pieces;
then put on the box again, and give the light one or two inches of air,
according to the temperature of the weather.
It will now be necessary to wrap up the bed with straw, pea-halm, or
hay, about eighteen inches wide at the bottom, drawing it in gradually
to a foot wide, within three inches of the top of the box.
In three or four days stir up the bed in the same manner as before,
observing that if it be in the least dry, or inclined to a burning heat,
to give it three or more pots of water, as shall seem necessary. It must
be stirred up again in three or four days, and beat down gently with a
fork, when it will be in a fit state to receive the old tan or mould in
which the seed is to be deposited.
A seed-bed should always lay a fortnight or three weeks before the seed
is attempted to be sown; as many evil consequences are to be apprehended
from sowing it before, from the firing of the bed, or the impure nature
of the dung. If this be not strictly attended to, the plants will not
be brought to that degree of perfection, as might reasonably be expected
from a bed in its proper heat and condition.
After the bed has been laid and dealt with according to the foregoing
directions, spread two barrows-full of old tan or light mould all over
the surface, having it a little deeper in the middle than at the sides.
Old tan is certainly more preferable than mould, though either will
answer the purpose. Let it be put in the frame the day before the seed
is sown, and cover the bed up with a single mat at night, taking care to
shut it down until the morning, that the heat may be properly drawn up.
Take some forty-eight size pots, and mix a quantity of leaf mould with
a sixth proportion of road sand, not sifted fine. The sifting mould to a
fine degree is an error too prevalent in horticulture, and ought
particularly to be avoided, from its great tendency to bind.
It is very requisite that a cucumber should have a good digestion, and
in order to accomplish this, it will be necessary to cover the holes at
the bottom of the pots with broken pieces; then strew a little of the
rough siftings of the mould over it, and fill them up within half an
inch of the brim with the prepared mould and sand. Shake it down a
little, and sow the seed from eighteen to twenty-four in a pot, just
covering it with a little mould; then give it a small quantity of water,
which for the first time may be cold, but great care must be taken in
the subsequent waterings, that it be chilled to about the warmth of new
milk.
The seed being sown, plunge the pots in the bed up to the rim, and give
them about half an inch of air. At night they must be covered with a
single mat, taking care to turn it up at at the back, that the steam may
pass freely from the bed. Let the air be continued both night and day.
After the seed has been sown three days, it will be up, when the pots
must be unplunged, placed on the surface, and some water given to them.
They will now require upwards of an inch of air, both night and day,
which will cause the plants to grow stuggy, or dwarfish, and prevent
their drawing. In about three days give them some more water in the
morning, and they will be ready to pot off in the afternoon.
Plants should be always potted off when young, as they strike more
freely in the pots; and, in doing this, the following directions should
be attended to.
Put the mould in the bed to chill, the day before potting off, and let
it be of the same description as that in which the seed was sown. If the
pots are old and dirty, wash them, and be careful in having them
properly dried before they are made use of. Take some old rotten turf,
or a little of the coarse siftings of the leaf mould, and place a small
quantity over the tile at the bottom of every pot; then fill them about
one-third full, put three plants in each, and cover the roots about an
inch. The pots must not be plunged, but placed on the surface, and some
water given them with a fine rose.
It is necessary to have a small pot on purpose to water the plants,
which will contain about three quarts, and has a hollow fine rose, which
is much better calculated to water the plants regularly than a spreading
one.
Be particular in watering them regular, which will be requisite every
two or three days, for the space of three weeks or a month at latest,
when they will be in a proper condition to ridge out.
After the plants have been potted three days, add a little mould to
them, and repeat it every two or three days, for about a fortnight,
until the pot is quite filled. Much attention should be paid to this
method of putting in the mould, which experience has convinced the
author is far superior to the usual practice of filling the pots in the
first instance up to the seed-leaves of the plants. By the gradual mode
of filling, the plant is prevented from shanking, and is certain in its
growth of being dwarfish and strong, which cannot be insured by the
common method, as it tends considerably to weaken the plant, and renders
it very liable to fog off, before taking root. By potting them low, and
only just covering the roots at first, the stems of the plants become
hardened, and strike very freely upwards: as the tap roots of a cucumber
always decay when forced with a strong bottom heat.
It will be necessary, after the plants have been potted about a week,
to examine the bed, for the purpose of ascertaining whether there is any
fire heat. If such should be found to be the case, and the directions as
before given with regard to moisture have been strictly attended to, it
can only exist in the tan, which must immediately be supplied with
water, and, the day following, stirred well up together and levelled,
placing the pots upon the surface. In another week again examine the
bed, and if any fire heat still remains, attend to it as above; if not,
stir up the tan, and plunge the pots about half way down; being,
however, guided in this by the temperature of the bed, as plants sown in
October do not require so much heat as those in the three following
months.
Observe, when the plants have been potted two or three days, to stir the
mould in the pots, round the plants, and likewise the tan, with a
sharp-pointed stick, which will contribute to freshen the plants, and
prevent any thing of a mouldy nature from injuring them.
As soon as they have made the first rough leaf, top them, by taking out
the break that appears next, which may be easily done with the thumb and
finger, or a sharp-pointed stick. In little more than a fortnight, they
will be in a fit state to top down; and in three weeks from the time of
sowing, ready to ridge out.
At this time of the year, the bed will not require any lining; but
observe, that as the wrapping sinks, it will be necessary to increase
it, pressing it down close to the box, and keeping it within one-third
of the top.
If the plants are not ridged out when three weeks old, plunge them up to
the rim, until the fruiting frame is ready for their reception, which
ought to be at the latest when they are a month or five weeks old. If it
should happen, however, that the frame is not perfectly sweet, by no
means ridge them out until it is in a proper condition. After they are a
month old, increase the lining at the back and front, about four or five
barrows-full each, applying it in the following manner:--Remove the
wrapping down to the bottom, and extend the dung to the width of two
feet, and three parts as high as the bed; drawing it in to about
eighteen inches at the top. Cover the lining with the litter four inches
wide from the bottom, and three parts as high as the box, being
particularly careful in stopping up the inside, by pressing the tan
close to the box, about three inches above the bottom. As the lining
sinks, add a little wrapping to the top, formed of hay, or old litter
that is quite sweet.
Next: The Fruiting Frame
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