CHAP. XXI VILLA GARDENING 477 



been recommended at the rate of half a pint of oil to 1 6 gallons of 

 water, the i^Iants to be watered with it. The difficulty of mixing 

 the oil with the water may be urged against it, but the remedy is 

 worth trying. The water must be frequently stirred before being 

 api^lied, and the watering should be done either through a coarse 

 syringe or a rosed waterpot. 



CHAPTER XXI 



The Cucumber under Glass. — The cheapening of glass has, 

 during the last thirty years, given an immense impetus to the 

 cultivation of Cucumbers. Those not much past the meridian of 

 life can remember the time when Cucumbers were chiefly grown 

 in the dung-pit or frame, and in winter were almost unknown. 

 Now a Cucumber-house forms a necessary structure in even mode- 

 rately-sized private gardens, and immense establishments, from 

 which fortunes have been made, have sprung up, not only in the 

 neighbourhood of London, but in many other places about the 

 country, I have been told that some of our large Cucimiber- 

 growers have found openings for their produce on the Continent, 

 and that — at least so far as regards forced produce — the English 

 grower can do something more than hold his own in competition 

 with the foreigner. 



Raising the Plants. — In a suitable jjlace Cucumbers are very 

 easily rooted from cuttings, and when many plants are required of 

 a kind, such as the Telegraph, which does not seed freely, this is a 

 good way of raising them. Strong healthy cuttings are a necessity : 

 for weakly plants are not of much use and never attain to a long, 

 healthy, vigorous life. The cuttings may be laid in a bed of warm, 

 moist, light soil, and as soun as the roots are half an inch long, 

 take them carefully out of the soil and i)ot them. Grow them on 

 till well established or till the house is ready to receive them. If 

 raised from seeds they should be sown or planted in small pots, 

 one seed in each, in light soil, the pots being plunged in a hotbed 

 near the glass. When the seeds have germinated and the plants 

 advanced to the rough-leaf stage, they may either be potted on, or, 

 if the house is ready, planted out. In all cases it is important 

 that the plants should never experience any check in their 

 early life. 



Time to Plant. — In a well -constructed Cucumber -house, 

 whether it be a lean-to or a span-roof structure (the latter is the 

 best), a start may be made at any time that suits the convenience 

 of the cultivator, he being governed by his necessities as regards 



