The Culture of Vegetables 



conflict with time in the matter of bottom heat. Make up the 

 heap ; then, early in March, turn it twice, and at the end of the month 

 prepare the bed, firming the stuff with a fork as the work proceeds, 

 but taking care not to tread on the bed. Put on the lights and leave 

 the affair for five or six days ; then lay down a bed of rich loamy 

 soil of a somewhat light and turfy texture, about nine inches deep. 

 It is now optional to sow or plant as may be most convenient. 

 Strong plants in pots, put out at once, will fruit earlier than plants 

 from seeds sown on the bed. But sowing on the bed is good prac- 

 tice for all that, and if this plan is adopted you must sow a few more 

 seeds than the number of plants required, to provide a margin for 

 enemies ; any surplus plants will generally prove useful, for Cucum- 

 ber plants seldom go begging. If it is preferred to begin with plants, 

 the question of providing them must be considered in good time. 

 The seed should be sown at least a month in advance, and should 

 be brought forward on a hot-bed or in a cool part of a stove. Many 

 a successful Cucumber grower has no better means of raising plants 

 than by sowing the seeds in a box or pan of light rich earth, kept in 

 a sunny corner of a common greenhouse, with a slate or tile laid over 

 until the seeds start, and by a little careful management nice thrifty 

 plants are secured in the course of about four weeks. In some 

 books on horticulture a great deal is said as to the soil in which 

 Cucumber seed should be sown. We advise the reader not to make 

 too much of that question. Any turfy loam, or even peat, will 

 answer ; but a rank soil is certainly unfit. The object should be to 

 obtain short, stout plants of a healthy green colour; not the long- 

 drawn, pallid things that are often to be seen on sale, and which by 

 their evident weakness seem destined to illustrate the problems of 

 Cucumber disease. 



Having made a beginning with strong plants on a good bed, the 

 two matters of importance are to regulate the temperature and 

 the watering. In the first instance, it will be necessary to shade the 

 plants a little, but as they acquire strength they should have more 

 light and more air than are usually allowed to Cucumbers. A 

 temperature averaging 60 by night and 80 by day will be found 

 safe and profitable, as promoting a healthy growth and lasting fruit- 

 fulness. But the rule must be elastic. You may shut up at 90 

 without harm, and during sunshine the glass may rise to 95 without 

 injury, provided the plants have air and are not dry at the roots. 

 But it is of great moment that the night temperature should be kept 

 near 60, and not go below it. If you find the night tempera- 



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