186 CUCUMBER. 
when grown in connection with tomatoes, beans, and 
other winter crops. Good fruits sell at from 25 to 75 
cents apiece, and on special occasions even higher. 
General requirements.— The general requirements of 
houses, temperature and moisture are essentially the 
same as for the forcing of tomatoes and beans. The 
temperature demanded by English cucumbers is 60° or 
65° at night and 70° to 75° in the shade during the day. 
They must have bottom heat, and are, therefore, grown 
on benches. Cucumbers are vigorous feeders, and water 
must be abundantly supplied to prevent flagging. In 
bright weather the air should be kept moist by wetting 
the walks, both to assist growth and to check the rav- 
ages of red spider. The greatest care is necessary, 
however, to dry the house off thoroughly every day or 
two (particularly in dull weather) to prevent attacks of 
mildew. These cucumbers have been developed in the 
mild and humid atmosphere of England, and they seem 
to be particularly liable to injury by hot suns. We have 
the best success in growing them under shaded roofs. 
In preparing the beds, which should be 6 to 8 inches 
deep, we generally place about an inch of clinkers or 
potsherds on the boards; then follows 3 or 4 inches of 
partially decayed rich sods, preferably from an old pas- 
ture, and the bed is then filled with good, rich garden 
soil, to which has been added one-fourth part of well- 
rotted manure. If the soil is somewhat sticky when a 
damp portion of it is pressed in the hand, enough sand 
is added to make it loose and porous. During the win- 
ter liquid manure is applied as occasion seems to de- 
mand. It is imperative that the soil be very rich. Pro- 
ductiveness in the cucumber is almost entirely a ques- 
tion of food. Most gardeners suppose that three or four 
of these large cucumbers are all that a plant can bear at 
one time; but the crop will depend very greatly upon 
the food, and the room which they have on the bench. 
We have had as many as 14 large cucumbers on a vine 
