279 



however, to the unsettled state of affairs that afterwards occurred the 

 plant appears to have been lost, but was re-introduced in the time of 

 Henry VIII. In a book called The Gardeners Labyrinth published in 

 1577, it is recommended that Cucumbers should be trained upon trellises f 

 as the fruit is liable to injury when left lying upon the ground. Instruct 

 tions are also given in this book for keeping the plants supplied with 

 moisture by means of pieces of worsted, an end of each being buried in 

 the soil close to the plants, while the other extremeties are placed in 

 water which was supposed to filter through them. Gerard writiiig"iiT 

 1597, mentions two sorts as being known in his time, one of these he 

 calls Cucumis vulgar is, which is supposed to be identical with what is 

 now called the Short Prickly. The other sort Gerard terms Cucumis ex 

 JIi*panica or the Spanish Cucumber, which appears to have been an 

 improved kind, as the fruit is described as being a foot long. Some 

 curious ideas appear to have formerly existed regarding Cucumbers, and 

 the effects produced by eating them. Gerard in his book quaintly says 

 that " If they are eaten as a potage with mutton and oatmeal for break- 

 fast, dinner arid supper, without intermission for three weeks, it doth 

 perfectly cure all manner of sauce phleghm or copper faces, red and 

 shining fiery noses, (as red as red roses) with pimples, pumples, and such 

 like precious faces." 



The forcing of Cucumbers was commonly practised in England in the 

 latter part of the sixteenth century and Gerard gives full directions for 

 making hot-beds with stable manure. The system was very similar to 

 that practised by modern gardeners, \vith the exception that the beds had 

 hoops or poles fixed over them upon which were spread mats, straw 

 painted cloth or other contrivances to afford protection from the weather, 

 glass being then unknown. Parkinson writing in 1627, describes six 

 varieties (Cowcumbers he calls them ) and makes the first mention of glass 

 being used in growing them artificially. In 1717 the first treatise written 

 upon the Cucumber, by Samuel Collins, appeared in a work called 

 Paradise Retrieved. Switzer an English horticulturist of repute in his 

 day, writing in 1727, boasts of the great advance made in the cultivation 

 of Cucumbers in the few preceding years. " Formerly " he says " they 

 could not be obtained for the table previous to the latter end of May, but 

 now they are to be had early in March or sooner." It is recorded 

 that in 1721 a brace of fine Cucumbers were presented to George I. on 

 New Years Day, they being the first ever raised in midwinter. They 

 were grown by Sir Nathaniel Head's gardener at Stoke Xewington, near 

 London. As a matter of course readers must bear in mind that in 

 Europe the season's are the opposite of those in Australasia. 



USES. 



Cucumbers are agreeable and refreshing when used as salads or other- 

 wise, and more especially in warm weather, but they contain but little 

 nourishment, as the percentage of water in the fruit is about ninety-seven 

 per cent. Owing to their cool and watery nature they are somewhat 

 difficult to digest, and should be used with great caution by delicate 



