CULTURE OP THE CUCUMBER. 499 



especially on the surface, as to cause the plants to damp off. The 

 shoots of the cucumber are commonly allowed to trail on the ground ; 

 but they are much less likely to damp off when trained on trellises 

 within one foot or eighteen inches of the glass. To concentrate the 

 vigour of the plant, the shoots are stopped repeatedly as they advance 

 in growth, by pinching out the growing point with the finger and 

 thumb. Shoots bearing fruit are generally stopped at the second 

 joint beyond the fruit, as soon as its blossom has begun to fade, in 

 order to throw more of the sap into the fruit. The cucumber will 

 live either in the open air or under glass, at a temperature of 50, and 

 it will grow and produce fruit at 60, but not vigorously and abun- 

 dantly at a lower temperature than between 75 and 80 and with 

 this the bottom heat should correspond. With abundance of light, 

 air, and frequent watering, it will grow vigorously in an atmosphere 

 of from 85 to 90, saturated with moisture for at least a portion of 

 every twenty-four hours. The foliage of the plants ought always to 

 be kept pretty close to the glass ; and in the winter season the more 

 light they can have the better the plants will thrive. For this reason 

 the glass over cucumbers (and melons also) should never be covered 

 till it is nearly dark, and always be uncovered at daybreak. The 

 cucumber requires an ample supply of water, which should be pond 

 or rain-water, and always of the same temperature as the soil in which 

 the plants grow. Liquid manure may be advantageously used when 

 the soil is poor, or when it is limited in quantity, as in the case of 

 cucumbers grown in pots. As the cucumber, like the melon, has the 

 stamens and pistils in different flowers, artificial fecundation is by 

 most gardeners considered necessary, or at least conducive to the 

 swelling of the fruit ; but by others, and among these some of the best 

 cultivators, it is considered of no use, excepting when seed is required. 

 Without abundance of seeds cucumbers for pickling or stewing would be 

 good for nothing. Cucumbers grown for seed are of course always allowed 

 to attain maturity, in which state they are of a yellow colour. The seed 

 is taken out, washed and dried, and preserved for use, and it is generally 

 considered that, for early crops, seeds which are several years old pro- 

 duce plants less likely to run to foliage, and consequently more pro- 

 lific in blossoms. The cucumber is liable to the same insects and 

 diseases as the melon, which are to be subdued by the same means. 

 Want of sufficient bottom heat, and watering with cold hard water, 

 are the general causes which produce the mildew, canker, and spot ; and 

 want of atmospheric moisture encourages the red spider and the thrips, 

 and to a certain extent also, the aphides. 



Culture of the Cucumber in a Dung -bed. 



The formation of a dung- bed for general purposes has been already 

 given. For the purpose of growing cucumbers in mid-winter, great 

 care is necessary to prepare the dung properly, so that by reducing its 

 heat there may be no danger of an excess, or what is termed a " burn- 

 ing heat," after the bed is made up. When this burning heat takes 

 place, the bed becomes dry and mouldy to within a few inches of its 



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