No. 4.] CUCUMBER GROWING. 411 



is that part of the seed where it is attached in the ovary or 

 fruit, as is shown by tlie scar, which is known as the hiluni. 

 When seeds are soaked in water for a few hours, they swell 

 up. If we squeeze a water-soaked seed, it will be seen that 

 water exudes at the hilum end. This is because there is a 

 pore at that end called the micropjde, which enables the 

 seed to absorb water readily. The seed is provided with 

 two coats : an inner one, which is thin and transparent ; and 

 an outer one, which is opaque. Inside the coats is what is 

 called the embrj^o, which consists of two cotyledons, or seed 

 leaves ; the radicle, or root ; the hypocotyl, or that portion 

 of the stem under the cotyledons ; and the plumule, or de- 

 veloped stem. The embryo constitutes a minute plantlet. 

 Three different stages of germination are also shown, and 

 the various parts which we saw in the embryo have become 

 greatly extended and developed. The cucumber plantlet 

 has an ingenious and peculiar way of getting out of its 

 coats. The one-sided outgrowth {p) near the radicle and 

 h3q3ocotyl, known as a peg, acts as a lever in spreading the 

 micropylar end of the seed, by which means the cotyledons 

 may be more conveniently withdrawn. 



Varieties of Cucumbers grown. 

 Most of the varieties of cucumbers grown in greenhouses 

 are the White Spine or some similar strain, and in many in- 

 stances a Hybrid type is grown. This usually consists of a 

 cross between the White Spine and Telegraph, or some other 

 English type of cucumbers. The Telegraph bears large fruit, 

 generally from 18 to 20 inches or more in length, and is 

 largely used in forcing houses in England. In this country 

 it does not find so ready a sale as the shorter varieties. 

 Many people, however, who have eaten the long English 

 Telegraph, like it ; and, if it were found more extensively in 

 the markets, there is no doubt but that it would be utilized 

 more largely. A stock of White Spine having about one- 

 fourth of the English Telegraph in it (which constitutes 

 the Hybrid type) makes a cucumber slightly longer than 

 the White Spine, and of a considerably darker color. The 

 quality of the Hybrid is good, but is not superior to the 



