406 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



Cucumber continued. 



Houses and Frames. Where accommodation for Cucum- 

 bers in the way of proper frames or houses is limited, those 

 of almost any description may be utilised in summer by 

 the aid of dung heat ; but for winter supply, houses are 

 necessary, having plenty of piping for fire-heat, with or 

 without the addition of dung. Fig. 559 shows a section of 

 an ordinary frame as prepared for a Cucumber plant. 

 Pieces of slate, or other material, should be laid under 

 the fruits to keep thorn from the soiL The ordinary span- 



FIG. 561. SECTION OF LEAN-TO HOUSE. 



a a, Space for Bottom Heat ; bbb, Hot- water Pipes ; c c, Pipes for 

 Top Heat ; d, Path ; e, Ventilator. 



roofed or half-span frame may be used in summer for 

 Cucumbers, placing some heaps of manure, with soil on 

 the top, a yard or more apart, and putting one plant 

 on each. A lean-to pit, with south aspect, is suitable 

 for winter, where only a few are grown, planting on the 

 stage above the hot-water pipes. A somewhat similar 



Cucumber continued. 



sents a section of a suitable house for growing a large 

 quantity of Cucumbers in summer, when plenty of air 

 is needed. More pipes for the top heat would be 

 necessary for spring. A section of a lean-to house is 

 shown in Fig. 561, where the front part would suit Cu- 

 cumbers, not allowing them to grow too far up to shade 

 the back wall, which might be utilised for some other 

 crop Tomatoes, for instance. Fig. 562 shows a span-roof 

 house, with heated beds, that, with the addition of suffi- 

 cient top heat, might be used at any season. A cbam- 



FIG. 562. SECTION OP SPAN-ROOF HOUSE. 

 a a a a, Hot-water Pipes for Bottom Heat 



system is adopted in a span-roofed house. Both would 

 require additional fire-heat for winter. Fig. 560 repre- 



Fio. 563. SECTIONAL END VIEW OP A CHAMBERED FRAME. 



A A, Brick Piers ; S, Internal Space for Hot Manure or other 

 Material ; C, Support : D, Laths to support Bed ; E , Sides 

 of Frame; F, Sash; O, Bed. 



bered frame is shown in Fig. 563, which sufficiently 

 explains itself. Such a frame might be fitted with hot- 

 water pipes in the space shown for heating material; and 

 the frame, with the bed removed, may be used for many 

 other purposes. Either fixed or movable trellises, placed 

 from 1ft. to 18in. from the glass, are necessary for all 

 Cucumber houses. The fruits are much cleaner and of a 

 better shape when grown on a trellis; but in the case of 

 frames, this is impracticable. 



CUCUMBER-TREE. An American name for Mag- 

 nolia acuminata and M. Fraserii (which see). 



CUCUMIS (etymology of name obscure). Cucumber. 

 OED. Cucurbitacece. A well-known genus of half-hardy 

 trailing annuals or perennials. Flowers monoecious. Males 

 in fascicles, rarely solitary; calyx tube turbinate or cam- 

 panulate ; limb five-lobed ; corolla sub-campanulate, deeply 

 five-lobed; stamens three, free. Females solitary. Fruit 

 three to six-celled. The seed of all the species require to 

 be sown on a hotbed in spring, and the seedlings should 

 be planted out, when large enough to handle. See also 

 Cucumber, Melon. &c. 



C. Angurla (Anguria). fl. 



fr. white, globose, echinated. I. palmately sinuated, cordate at 

 the base, scabrous. Stems rather slender; 

 Jamaica, 1692. 



usually solitary. June to August. 

 , , _'_._._. ._'_,__..._:. late a' 



imple 



C. Citrullus. See CitruUus vulgaris. 



C. Colocynthis. See CitruUus Colocynthls. 



C. Hookerl (Hooker's). JL yellow. Jr. brownish-purple, marked 

 with white bands, ovoid-cylindrical. I. deeply five-lobed ; lobes 

 obtuse, crenulately-denticulate. Tropical Africa, 1870. 



C. Melo (Melon), fl., males : tube of calyx rather ventricose at 

 the base, and rather dilated at the apex; stamens inclosed; 

 anthers shorter than their connectives. Females: calyx and 



