CUCUMBERS. 



136 



CUCUMBERS. 



temperature of the house or frame, as the 

 case may be, at a height ranging from 70 

 * 75> but not falling below the former. 

 It is unnecessary to describe the process 

 of making a hotbed here, and for this the 

 reader must be referred to remarks on this 

 subject (see Hotbed). The seed must be 

 planted in good mould placed in pots, and 

 these pots must be placed in the frame 

 when the rank steam and heat of the bed 

 consequent on its first construction has 

 passed off, and it is in a proper condition 



CUCUMBER ROLLISON'S IMPROVED TELEGRAPH. 



for their reception. The seeds may be 

 placed in pots singly, or two or three in 

 a 5-inch pot. Perhaps the former mode is 

 preferable, as the roots are not disturbed 

 when the plants are turned out of the pots 

 to be placed in the soil that forms the 

 surface of the bed. They gr6w very 

 quickly, and will make their appearance 

 above ground in two or three days. 



Management of Plants in Frames, &>c. 

 When the plants have made two leaves, 

 pinch out (.he point above the second : 



each plant will then send out two lateral 

 shoots above the second leaf of each shoot : 

 pick off the top. After that, stop rfiem 

 above every fruit, and, as the plants grow, 

 add fresh soil, till the whole bed is level, 

 taking care that the soil is of the same 

 temperature as the bed before placing it 

 in the frame, or the plants are likely to 

 receive a chill, which throws them back 

 considerably. 



Setting Fruit. It will be necessary, 

 between the months of October and April, 

 to set each fruit as the flower opens. This 

 is done by taking a male flower, and pull- 

 ing off all -but the centre that is, the 

 stamens supporting the anthers, which 

 hold the farina or pollen and applying 

 this to the centre of the female flower, 

 which may be distinguished by the rudi- 

 ment of the fruit supporting it. This, in 

 the warmer months, is the office of bees. 

 Attracted to the flowers by the honey and 

 pollen, they fertilise the female blossom in 

 collecting it ; but when there are no bees 

 about, the cultivator must perform the task 

 himself. 



Cucumbers, Ridge, Gherkins, &c. The 

 instructions given above are, as it will be 

 understood, wholly intended for the culture 

 of cucumbers in frames. There are varieties, 

 however, that can be grown in the open 

 air, but the fruit is smaller, and far less 

 wholesome, than that obtained from fruit 

 under glass. The plants are raised from 

 seed placed in pots at the end of March or 

 the beginning of April. The pots are 

 plunged in gentle heat on a hotbed, 

 covered by a frame, and when the plants 

 are up, as much air must be given to 

 them as possible, and they must be 

 stopped at least twice, in order to keep 

 the growth within bounds as much as 

 possible. About the middle of June, 

 they may be transferred from the frame to 

 the open ground on spots prepared for 

 them by digging holes in the earth about 



