“_Ridge Cucumbers._ Prepare a good hot-bed as for tomato seed, and on the last day of April, sow the cucumber seed, two together, at 1½ in. apart all over the bed; cover with soil, press down, do not water, close up and cover with mats. The seed will be up in 2 or 3 days. Give water, plenty of light, but no air; cover at night. Have ready a mild hot-bed—the bed the lettuces were removed from, if forked over, will probably do. As soon as the rough leaves are showing, lift each pair of plants gently with a little soil and pot into large 60s, burying up to seed leaves. Water as required. Harden gradually by end of May, and plant out first week in June at 2 ft. apart in rows, and 4 ft. between the rows. A bed into which a heavy dressing of manure has been dug during the winter will do very well. As soon as set out, the plants must be protected by some means, such as placing a flower-pot at night over each plant, or with paper cones pegged down. It is also advisable that hurdles covered with straw be run down every 3 or 4 rows to break the wind. If the plants are helped in this way for a week or two, they will repay it later on. After planting they should be watered, and this should be repeated if the weather continues dry. Before they begin to run, mulch all down each side of the rows with long straw stable manure. Fruit should be ready middle of July. “For using the frames after the above plants have been removed, I recommend Frame Cucumbers. Melons would do equally well, but are rather more difficult to grow, and I advise cucumbers for a year or two until experienced. Make up a hot-bed precisely the same as for Ridge Cucumbers. Fill as many 60s pots as are needed half-full of prepared soil after covering the drainage hole with broken china. Put one seed of Telegraph Cucumber on the soil in each pot, fill half the remaining space with soil and press down with the bottom of a pot. The soil should be of a nice dampness when used, as the seeds are better unwatered; the pots, if new, should be soaked in water before use. Cover up close and keep mats on until seed is up, then only mat at night. Give no air, water with tepid water as required, shade from strong midday sun and keep interior of frame moist by dewing over early each morning. Give the plants room for the leaves to spread. As frames are emptied of the tomatoes and ridge cucumbers, without waiting for all of them, fork them over lightly and raise slightly in centre; on this mound put half a bushel of prepared soil, which should consist mainly of chopped sod with the grass removed, a little decayed manure, and a little finely sifted burnt earth or old mortar rubbish. Cover up close for a day or two for the sun to warm the soil, and then put two plants in the middle of the light, about 6 in. apart. Pinch out the centres, allowing only one shoot to grow from each plant. These should be taken from one plant upwards and the other downwards in the frame.