The Culture of Vegetables 



young ones. An error of management likely to occur with a beginner 

 is allowing the bed to become dry below while it is kept quite moist 

 above by means of the syringe. Many cultivators drive a stick into the 

 bed here and there, and from time to time they draw these out and 

 judge by their appearance whether or not the bed needs a heavy 

 watering. To be dry at the root is deadly to the Cucumber plant, 

 and to be in a swamp is not less deadly. It must have abundance 

 of moisture above and below, but stagnation of either air or water 

 will bring disease, ending in a waste of labour. 



The Greenhouse Cultivation of the Cucumber for a summer crop 

 only is the most profitable and simple as well as the most interest- 

 ing of all the methods practised. In many gardens the houses that 

 have been filled during the winter with Geraniums and other plants 

 are very poorly furnished during the summer, and present a most 

 unsightly appearance. Now, it is a very easy matter to render them 

 at once profitable and beautiful, for when clothed with green vines 

 bearing handsome Cucumbers, such houses are attractive and pay 

 their way amazingly well. To carry out the routine nicely, the house 

 should be cleared at the end of April, the plants being removed to 

 pits and frames. The beds should, if possible, be made up on slates 

 laid close over the hot-water pipes, and in making them a mere 

 bushel of soil under each light is enough to begin with. First lay on 

 the slate a large seed-pan, bottom upwards, and on that a few flat 

 tiles, and then heap up in a cone about a bushel of nice light turfy 

 loam. Start the fire and shut up, and raise the heat of the empty 

 house to 80 or 90 for one whole day. The next day plant on each 

 hillock a nice short stout Cucumber plant, or sow three seeds. Pro- 

 ceed as advised for frame culture, keeping a temperature of 60 by 

 night and 80 by day, with a rise of 5 to 10 during sunshine. Ply 

 the syringe freely, give air carefully, and use the least amount of 

 shading possible. It will very soon be found that by judicious 

 management in shutting up and air giving, the firing may be dispensed 

 with, and then it remains only to syringe freely and train with care. 

 The plants should not be stopped at all, but be taken up direct to 

 the roof and be trained out on a few wires or tarred string, in the first 

 instance right and left, and afterwards along the rafters to meet at the 

 ridge, and form a rich leafy arcade. The fruits will appear in quantity, 

 and must be thinned to prevent over-cropping. They will mostly be 

 handsome and of the finest quaUty, their own great leaves shading 

 them sufficiently. As the plants grow, earth must be added to the 

 hillocks until there is a continuous bed, on which a certain number 



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