1879.] THE AMATEUR'S GARDEN. 175 



given daily; and the frame should be closed in time to shut up sun-heat. In 

 dull weather the temperature should not be lower than 70°, and with bright 

 sun will be all the better if it run as high as 90°. Just before coming into 

 flower, give a thorough soaking of liquid-manure, made of urine diluted with 

 five times its bulk of pure water, and of the temperature of 80° or 90° ; 

 and, again, after the fruit is set, taking care that the soil is never allowed 

 to become dry. "When in flower, impregnate them. The way to do it is to 

 take a male blossom by the stalk in the right hand, and with the left re- 

 move the flower proper, leaving the male organ untouched, and giving a 

 gentle brush on the nail of the left-hand thumb, when, if traces of a yellow 

 powder remain, it is in " condition " for giving the stigmas, in the centre of 

 the female flower, a slight brush to cover them with the powder. The best 

 time to impregnate is when the sun is shining about mid-day. 



Should red-spider or thrips appear, attack them at the very first with a 

 sponge and soap -water. The red -spider is likely to trouble them in hot 

 seasons, and is so small as to be almost invisible. Syringings overhead will 

 do much to prevent its appearance and to hold it in check ; but if taken at 

 once with a sponge and water it will not do much harm. If allowed its own 

 way it will certainly destroy the plants. As the fruit approaches maturity, 

 in cloudy districts or seasons, water should be withheld until the soil is rather 

 dry, which will assist in giving a finer flavour than would be secured were 

 the soil kept wet ; but keep the foliage from flagging by excessive drought. 

 In hot seasons, and in the sunny South, water will be required liberally to 

 prevent the leaves flagging; and with strong sun, of course, the fruit is finer. 



Cucumbers. — These are much more easily grown than Melons, and any ordi- 

 nary soil will suit, if it be rich, or made so by the addition of well-decayed 

 manure. Less bottom-heat will do, although a bed the same as has been 

 recommended for Melons is more likely to give satisfaction — more especially 

 in cold or northern districts. In favourable localities in England, great 

 breadths of the hardy " ridge " varieties are grown in the open air in the way 

 we shall recommend for Vegetable Marrows. In such districts the finer 

 varieties are grown with very little bottom-heat indeed during the summer 

 months ; but the great majority of growers are compelled to provide bottom - 

 heat if satisfactory results are to be reasonably expected. Except in the 

 matter of soil and training, the whole directions given for Melons will also 

 suit the Cucumber. The training is a little different, and a greater amount of 

 atmospheric humidity is advisable. Instead of training out a certain number 

 of main growths to produce a sufficiency of fruit-bearing laterals simultane- 

 ously, as is necessary in the case of the Melon, the aim in Cucumber-grow- 

 ing is to provide for a successional supply from the same plants during the 

 whole season. For this purpose, plant either one or two plants in the middle 

 of each frame, and lead away two or three shoots to the back and front of the 

 frame. One-half of these shoots may be allowed to run on a bit, and the other 

 half stopped at every joint at which fruits are produced. The unstopped 

 shoots that have extended may be treated the same way, and then be quite 

 removed after those early stopped growths have come up on them — always 

 keeping the shoots thin, and not allowing the plants to bear too much at once. 

 Keep the soil steadily moist ; and should there be any signs of weak growth, 

 through poverty or overbearing, give soakings of the liquid manure. The 

 same insects that infest the Melon are also troublesome in the case of the 

 Cucumber ; but when raised on hotbeds, and not in hothouses among other 

 plants, and when grown vigorously on a hotbed with plenty of moisture, they 



