Dooembcr 17, 1868. 1 JOURNAL OF HOUTICDLTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



45S 



WEEKLY CAUENDAR, 



DECEMBER 17-88, 1868. 



Meeting of LinneaD Sooiety, 8 p.h. 



Roynl Ilorticnltunl Society, Promenade. 



4 Sunday in Advent. 



St. Tjiouas, ShorteBt Day. 



AycraKO Temperature 'H'°,'° 



near London. 



11 yonrB. 



Day. 

 4^.1 

 44.9 

 .12.7 

 44.3 

 43.5 

 44.5 

 44.0 



Nl«ht. 

 83 4 

 82.B 

 S2.7 

 BS.7 

 83.7 

 32.6 

 81.9 



Moan. Daya. 



811.0 



:in.7 



37.7 

 SB.B 

 38.6 

 SH.5 

 380 



11) 

 1 9 

 18 

 15 

 15 

 20 

 20 



San 

 Sets. 



Moon 

 Rises. 



Moon 



Sets. 



51 At ,'l I 



m. h. 



20 10 

 r,:i 10 



21 11 

 44 11 



attor. 



29 



50 



m. h 



22 Hi 7 

 21 8 

 27 » 

 80 10 

 85 11 

 morn. 

 i 33 



Moon's 

 Ane. 



Davs. 

 8 

 4 

 6 

 6 

 7 

 }) 

 9 



Cloch 



after 

 San. 



8 21 



2 5.'. 



2 25 



1 Br, 



1 25 



65 



25 



DaT 



or 



Sear 



8S8 

 854 

 856 

 856 

 357 

 338 



Prom obBervations taken near London dnrin? the last forty-one years, the average day temporntnro nf the weok is ■{{.■! ; an 1 itn nlKlit 

 temperature 32.9\ The greatest heat was 58', on the 13th, 1SG5 ; and the loweU oold IT, on tha 19th, 185^. The greatest fall of rain 

 was 1.18 inch. 



Wp 



CUCUMBER CULTURE.— No. 1. 



is generally considered that tlie Cucumber 

 is a nativ" of tlie warmer countries of Asia. 

 It was cultivated in Egypt at a very early 

 period, but whether indigenous to that coun- 

 try or to any part of Africa does not appear 

 in any work I have had access to. We find 

 the Cucumber largely grown at Rome for the 

 table of the Emperor Tiberius, and artificially 

 brought forward or cultivated, so as to fur- 

 nish fruit throughout the year. The means 

 were not very different from those now employed in this 

 country. Frames were used, filled with hot dung, and the 

 open part covered in with thin sheets or plates of talc, 

 through which liglit was admitted. Talc, in respect to the 

 amount of light which it would admit, would be about equal 

 to oiled paper frames, which every reader of John Aber- 

 crombie will know were extensively employed in this 

 country at no very remote period. I have heard it stated 

 tliat Cucumbers could not be produced all the year round 

 with no more light than that transmitted through talc 

 or oiled paper, and some would discredit the statement 

 as to Cucumbers being supplied throughout the year to 

 Tiberius's table, saying that it was not until the adoption 

 of glass that Cucumbers were always in season. It should 

 be borne in mind that what would not answer here might 

 do so elsewhere, and that the light of an Italian sky is 

 much more clear and powerful than that of England. 

 Pliny mentions baskets and vases in which Cucumbers 

 were reared and grown, and this so that they might be 

 taken under cover when the temperature was unfavour- 

 able, and placed outside when the air was warm and 

 genial. The same author goes even further, and says there 

 were beds mounted on wheels, the plants thereby being 

 easily moved under cover when the days or nights were 

 cold, or taken out when the weather was warm. I mention 

 these matters merely to afford some proof of our not being 

 in many things so very far in advance of a race that pre- 

 ceded us. It is of little or no moment to us to be informed 

 when or how Cucumbers were first introduced into this 

 country — that I could never discover — but we arc aware 

 good Cucumbers have been for a long time, and are now, 

 produced in this country, and that there are certain things 

 essential to success in their cultivation. 



The requisites for successful Cucumber culture are — 

 1st, A good, rich, light, open, sweet soil. '^ind. A good uni- 

 form bottom heat, and a steady top heat, but higher by day 

 than night. The bottom heat should be T."i°, and not exceed- 

 ing J^O" ; and the top heat may average 75°, or correspond 

 with the bottom heat, but at night it should be less tlian 

 the latter, or from 05" to 70° ; or it may in severe periods 

 fall to fiO^ at night, and in the day it should be from l(f to 

 75°, and from 80° to 85° or 00° in bright weather. .'Ird, The 

 soil ought at all times to be moist, without saturating it at 

 one time, and having it dust dry at another : and the atmo- 

 sphere should be moist, never dry ; but not so much so in 

 damp weather as in bright, nor should the moisture be so 

 great during the day as at night. Ith, All the light pos- 



No. Ice.-VoL. XV., New Sebhs. 



siblo should always be afforded, especially in the winter, 

 spring, and autumn, it being easy, by a thin shading, to 

 modify the sun's rays when too powerful, which, however, 

 is not often needed. " Lastly, Air should bo given whenever 

 it can be done without lowering the temperature, it being 

 well for the temperature to advance with air-giving ; and 

 always diminish the amount of air by or before the time 

 when the maximum temperature is reduced liy the external 

 air. Avoid cold currents, and by no means have for any 

 length of time a close confined atmosphere. 



Son..— The best soil that I have useil for the Cucumber 

 consisted of the top •'( inches of a pasture where tlie soil 

 was neither heavy nor light, but a good hazel or yellow 

 loam. This I lay up in ridges not more than a yard wide, 

 and first put a layer of turf, and then an inch in thickness 

 of fresh cow dung or sheep droppings, if I can obtain them, 

 next a layer of turf, then dung, and so on, making the 

 ridge about as high as it is wide. This, after it has been 

 in the ridge for six months, is chopped U]), and used rather 

 rough without any admixture whatever. For winter forcing, 

 however, I do not consider it open enough, and tlierefore 

 add one part of good fibrous peat, which contains a con- 

 siderable amount of white sand. The peat has the 

 property of keeping the soil sweet, and in that way pre- 

 serving the rQots : whereas these, in soils that are closer 

 and heavier, are liable to die off. Some grow their winter 

 Cucumbers in peat alone. This I have tried, and I have 

 found it answer very well, especially when dung heat is 

 employed, and the roots can have access to the duug, but 

 it is hardly rich enough for plants grown in beds or borders 

 by the aid of hot-water pipes or flues, consequently turfy 

 loam and leaf mould should be added to it : two parts 

 turfy loam, and one part leaf mould added to one part 

 of peat, make an excellent compost for the growth of winter 

 Cucumbers. The soil, whatever it be. should never be 

 such as will lie close, and with repeated waterings become 

 a heavy soapy mass ; but, on the contrary, it must be 

 friable and porous, so as to admit of the free pas.sage of 

 water, and be readily penetrated by the roots. The loam 

 may not always be so friable nor so tiu'fy as desirable for 

 the free passage of water and the roots, and in that ease 

 less of it should be employed, and more peat or sand. 



Soils of the above descriptions are not always to be 

 obtained. Where they are not. a good substitute may be 

 formed by mixing with light garden soil an equal quantity 

 of rotten hotbed manure or leaf mould. A first-rate com- 

 post is formed of light garden loam placed in layers with 

 fresh horse droppings and cow dung, commencing with 

 a layer of soil (l inches thick, then putting on layers of 

 horse droppings and cow dung, each 'A inches in thickness, 

 then one of soil, forminc; the whole like a potato hog. This 

 compost should be turned over twice or thrice in dry 

 weather, and at intervals of two or three months, and in 

 twelve months it will form a suitable soil for summer 

 Cucumbers ; but for winter-fruiting plants it is scarcely open 

 enough, and should be rendered more free, even if we go to 

 the extent of mixing small gravel or grit with it, which will 

 in most cases make it suitable. 



It is not uncommon to see Cucumbers growing very 



Ko. 1055.— Vol. XL., Old Series", ■" 



