CUCUMBERS 129 



although practically unknown in British gardens, 

 form a marketable crop in Paris. From inquiries 

 made in the " Halles," as the Covent Garden of Paris 

 is called, I was told that " White " Cucumbers were 

 not grown anything like so extensively as the long 

 green-fruited varieties although the quantity grown 

 found a ready sale. The fruits are somewhat similar 

 in shape to the green ones, and at first are of the same 

 colour. In the course of time, however, they pass 

 from green to greenish-yellow, and ultimately to a 

 kind of waxy or creamy white. 



The raising, planting, and general cultivation is 

 precisely the same as already described for the green 

 varieties. 



PRICKLY CUCUMBERS OR " CORNICHONS." The small 

 green Cucumbers chiefly used in pickles in England 

 are extensively grown in the neighbourhood of Paris, 

 and large quantities of them may be seen in the 

 Paris markets during the summer months. These 

 little Cucumbers must not be confounded with the 

 small stunted fruits of the ordinary long green Cu- 

 cumber. They are obtained from a special variety 

 called " Cornichon vert petit de Paris." This is strong 

 and hardy, and easily grown. The seeds are generally 

 sown in gentle hot-beds early in May. In due course 

 the young plants are pricked out in frames, and by 

 the end of May or early in June they are again lifted 

 with a nice ball of soil, and planted in little heaps 

 of soil in the same way as Cucumbers. The shoots 

 must be pinched to the third or fourth leaf, and when 

 the branches are well developed a layer of straw or 

 litter is placed on the soil for them to ramble over. 

 The first fruits are ready by the middle or end of 



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