THE PLOEAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 75 



USES OF THE GARDEN FRAME. 



{Continued from page 57.) 



FORCING THE CUCUMBER. 



|HE first step towards the cultivation of the cucumber is 

 the raising of the seedling plants ; but as some of our 

 readers are not likely to practise this operation on a 

 very extensive scale, we would recommend them to pro- 

 cure plants from the nearest nurseryman, for it some- 

 times, aud indeed frequently, happens that there are many accidents 

 and disappointments take place before the seedlings can be brought 

 to the advanced state of being fit to "ridge out." It will therefore 

 save much trouble if the plants can be obtained from some source 

 without incurring the trouble and anxiety of raising them. When 

 they are obtained in this way, the cultivators should see that they 

 have been properly " stopped," which means, that as soon as the 

 plants have acquired two well-developed, rough leaves, the leading 

 shoot must be pinched off, while it is just issuing from the axil of 

 the second rough leaf, the object of which is to cause the plant 

 to throw out lateral shoots ; for the cucumber, being a climbing 

 plant, would shoot away in one long, straggling stem if this pre- 

 caution were not taken. If the plants are brought from any distance, 

 and the weather should happen to be cold, great care must be taken 

 that they do not get chilled, and thereby checked in their growth. 

 They must therefore be placed in a close box, which should be 

 wrapped in a flannel covering, and so covered that there is no possi- 

 bility of the cold air getting at the plant. 



It mny, however, happen that some of our readers reside in places 

 far removed from any opportunity of procuring plants ready pre- 

 pared ; in such cases, it will be necessary to raise them from seed. 

 The first step then to be taken is to procure some sound and healthy 

 seeds, not less than three years old, if possible, for, within reason, 

 the older they are the better, as the plants are then more productive 

 of fruit, and less so of leaves aud vine. Having obtained the seeds, 

 throw them into a basinful of water, and those that are sound will 

 sink to the bottom, while those that are not likely to germinate will 

 float on the surface. The seeds being chosen, let them be sown in a 

 large flower-pot or seed-pan, filled with a compost of sandy loam 

 and vegetable mould, and let them be covered with half-an-inch thick 

 of soil. Now this pot may be placed on the side or end of the hot- 

 bed, on the outside of the frame, having a stratum of ashes under 

 it to prevent the steam from rising, and the whole covered with a 

 band-glass. In the course of three or four days after the seeds are 

 sown, the plants will be^in to appear through the soil, and now the 

 care of the gardener begins. During the middle of the day there 

 should be an admission of fresh air, by tilting the hand-glass a little 

 on one side, and if at this period the weather should prove frosty, a 

 mat or some other covering must be laid over the opening, In giving 

 water to the young plants, care must be had not to water them over- 

 head, as this is very apt to cause them to damp off, but it should bo 



Mvrch, 



