482 VILLA GARDENING vart v 



managed plants fall a prey to it. Increase of temperature, accom- 

 panied by abundant moisture in the atmosphere, has been known 

 to banish the disease or to keep it at bay for a time till a new set 

 of plants could be started. 



Varieties. — Telegraph is the best all-round Cucumber. 

 Carter's Model and Tender and True are also both excellent; 

 there is nothing gained by growing more than three good kinds. 



CHAPTER XXII 



The Cucumber in the Open Air. — In warm sheltered 

 situations, where the soil is rich and light, Cucumbers, if the right 

 variety is obtained, will succeed very well in the open air in the 

 summer months. A site open to the south, but sheltered from the 

 north and east, is the most suitable. The seeds should be sown in 

 small pots, three in each, be lightly covered with light rich soil 

 about the 10th of April, and placed in a frame near the glass, 

 where there is a gentle hotbed. In due course the plants must be 

 moved to a cold frame to harden off, to be ready to jjlant out about 

 the 20th of May if there are handlights to shelter them, or the 

 end of the month if they cannot l^e specially attended to. It is 

 always easy enough to improvise some shelter for a few nights if 

 the weather should become unsettled after the plants are out. 

 Flower-jiots inverted, put over them at night, will keep them safe, 

 and evergreen branches will afford a good deal of protection. I 

 have used frames made of wire in the shape of handlights, and 

 covered with oiled calico ; they are very effective, and if taken 

 care of last a long time. The hills should be got ready a week or 

 so before the plants are ready to go out. Set them out in rows 5 

 feet apart and 4 feet apart in the rows. A little more space may 

 be allowed when the position is a very favourable one, but for the 

 most part the distance named will suffice. In preparing the hills 

 dig out a hole that will hold a barroAvful of stable manure, and on 

 the manure in each hill place half a barrowful of turfy loam and 

 old manure in about equal parts to set the plants in. If the 

 natural soil is very good this trouble need not be taken. Still, 

 anything that gives encouragement in the early stages of the plant's 

 existence will not be labour lost. 



Mulching and Watering. — As soon as the plants begin to 

 run freely the spaces between the hills must be mulched with 

 rather long manure, turning the shoots back on each side to allow 

 the stuff to be placed close up to the plants. If handglasses are 

 used, as the season advances they will be set upon bricks, until 



