290 FIELD AND GARDEN PRODUCTS 



the ground or at a convenient height overhead, so as not to interfere 

 with cultivation, from which water can be drawn to sprinkle the sur- 

 face of the beds at desired intervals and as the plants may require. 

 The work of watering should, however, be very carefully done. The 

 same general precautions necessary for the care of plants in cold 

 frames should be observed that is, to do the watering in the morn- 

 ing on bright days only, when air can be admitted and when the sun 

 will soon dry the moisture from the leaves of the plants. In this way 

 much can be done to protect the plants from injury from such dis- 

 eases as the damping-off fungus and mildew. 



Ventilation. Besides the precautions to be observed in watering 

 plants in cold frames, extreme care is necessary to give the plants 

 sufficient air to keep them in a healthy condition. If the atmosphere 

 is allowed to become close and very hot, the plants will be weakened 

 and thus rendered more susceptible to the attacks of plant diseases. 



Forcing Cucumbers Under Glass. Forcing is a technical term 

 used by gardeners to designate the growing of plants out of their 

 normal season under an artificial environment. The cucumber is 

 one of the few garden plants which lend themselves to this manner 

 of cultivation in addition to their more extensive cultivation in the 

 open ground. Under the stimulus of forcing work, two distinct types 

 of cucumbers have been developed. These are recognized in the trade 

 as the English type and the American type. The English type is 

 purely a product of forcing-house conditions, as the climate of Eng- 

 land is not congenial to the growth and development of the cucumber 

 in the open. The American type of cucumber is primarily a product 

 of field conditions, and the few varieties which have been developed 

 to meet the requirements of the forcing house are simply modifica- 

 tions of the existing field or outdoor forms. The English type of cu- 

 cumber is a long, cylindrical, uniformly green fruit, with few seeds 

 and a very fleshy seed cavity; in fact, the normal seed cavity of the 

 forced cucumber is almost entirely wanting. The triangular shape 

 characteristic of the normal outdoor cucumber has been lost, and the 

 cylindrical outline almost perfected. There is considerable difference 

 in the size and length of the various English varieties of cucumbers. 

 The American type of cucumber is primarily grown in the field, the 

 product to be used either for pickling or for slicing. Forcing cucum- 

 bers in America is confined to those varieties which produce large 

 fruits suitable for slicing. Only three or four of the better and larger 

 field varieties are adapted to this purpose. Notable among these is the 

 White Spine, the Arlington White Spine being the variety which 

 has been especially developed for forcing. The Long Green, or a 

 modification of it, is also sometimes used, but aside from these two 

 varieties there are few that ever find their way into the forcing house. 

 Such varieties as the Boston Pickling, Chicago Pickling, and the 

 cluster varieties in general are not adapted to forcing purposes. The 

 forcing of cucumbers presupposes that an adequate forcing house or 

 greenhouse is at hand for such work. The chief desideratum in a 

 forcing house for cucumbers is a maximum amount of light, suffi- 

 cient headroom, and adequate radiation to maintain a temperature 



