Maj 5, 1906 



H ORT1 CULT URE 



;.81 



red drafts is essential: Care must be exercised in water- As the staminate and pistilate organs are borne on 



ing not tn keep the soil soaked all the time. separate flowers the latter must be fertilized by hand. 



The cucumber is a gross feeder, and as the yield will The .y are distinguished by the embryo 1'nut below the 



depend on the feeding, stinting will nol pay! Liquid blossom and fertilization consists simph by removing 



manure once a week is a g I fertilizer, while ground a staminate blossom and inserting it in a pistilate form. 



one and wood ashes are desirable additions. 



As the plants grow they nerd training on wires one 

 foot apart, and pruning. 'Flic plants are trained either 

 as single or double shoots, bul as the cucumber is sus- 

 ceptible to crowding, the single shooi system will give 

 the best results as a rule. To produce the double shoot 

 system, the seedling is cut at the first axis above the 

 cotyledons when it is young. This causes the formation 

 of two shoots. 



'wo general classes of cucumbers are furred, (a) the 

 English sorts, and (b) the White Spine varieties, while 

 a hybrid, of the two is sometimes grown. The former, 

 with their huge size, are not general favorites liere, re- 

 quiring as they do a higher temperature, bottom heat, 

 greater -hade, and a much longer time m which to reach 

 maturity and ripen their fruit. The White Spine kind- 

 mature a crop in sixty days and are not nearly s,, par- 

 ticular regarding temperature and environment. 

 The size of a crop varies greatly, as high as ninety 



or s 



i ne size 01 a crop vanes greatlv, as ingn as ninetv 

 As soon as the Iruit sets, which is usuallv m the first <? ■, , . , , . ., -,", , . ' 



trims tn a plant between April and dune being recorded 



cpnrvnn mint nt* tlw> lateral tin. Kvnncli u cut i»ft nt" . 



r second joint of the lateral, the branch is cut off at 



in one case. Forty i- nearer the average. In eastern' 



in one case. r<irt\ i- nearer Hie average. In easterr 

 the next axis beyond. This induces a secondary branch, ., , , , , » . 



cities there is a steadv demand at fair prices, $1 to $3 

 which is in turn severed when fruit sets, producing a ■> ,, , . ,, , . . , . ,, 



per dozen, tebruarv and March furnishing tin best 



llnril U'llicl) le trenti'il rn tlw e-iiui' ivmv 'mil en mi 



third, which is treated in the same way. and so on. 

 When the plant reaches the desired height it is pinched 

 back. 



larket. 



ai 



Hybrid Amaryllis 



Not until recent years have hybrid amaryllises 

 become in any way common. Excepting A. Johnson i. 

 and some of the small-flowered species, you could not 

 look at them for loss than a guinea apiece. T give Eng- 

 lish currency because they could not hi' bought at any 

 price in this country fifteen or twenty years ago. About 

 ten years ago Kenneth Finlayson, then gai'dener lor l>r. 

 Weld, Brookline, Mass., went to work raising seedlings 

 with A. aulica as a seed parent : and obtaining pollen 

 from a few choice hybrids he had and some from his 

 neighbors, he succeeded m raising a very tine collec- 

 tion, lie made a splendid exhibit of these seedlings 

 at the opening exhibition of the Massachusetts Horti- 

 cultural Society's new halls, given by ami under the 

 direction of Prof. Sargent of Brookline. Mass., during 

 the first week of dune 19, 1901. To hold hack such a 

 superb exhibit so late in the season was a wonderful 

 achievement. 



Up to this time, it seems hardly any one had thought 

 of raising seedlings; though they might have done so, 

 for it was well known that Veitch raised them from 

 seed — no easy matter in the English climate. But 

 many things Veitch did it was thought impossible 

 others could do; and somehow the notion was that it 

 was too intricate a matter and required lots of wait- 

 ing-patience. 



About this time 1 happened to be on a visit to the 

 late Wm. Robinson, then gardener to F. L. Ames of 

 North Easton, Mass. He was no less proud of a dozen 

 new amaryllis, than id' his finest orchids; and, remem- 

 bering I had then some blooms of A. Johnsoni, I 

 begged a small quantity of pollen from some of his best. 

 It was done up in oil wax paper, put in my coat pocket, 



and forgotten. Better late than never, I found it five 

 days afterwards and used it, with the result of a good 

 set of seed. The seedlings bloomed, some two. and 

 most three years after, giving considerable variety, but 

 no blooms up to the standard in size. Shortly after, 

 the late II. II. Hunnewell of Wellesley imported a set 

 of Veitch's best. Later an extra special set of new 

 colors, from unnamed seedlings was sent, making an 

 unequalled collection, where the finest white striped 

 varieties were well represented. The accompanying 



