44 GARDENING 



during the day when the sun is very bright, also 

 at night, until the plants get too large for the pot 

 to cover thenii ; and grown in this way the plants 

 do not require watering unless the season is hot 

 and dry, but still they must not be allowed to 

 suffer from draught, and if it is necessary to water, 

 the water must be soft and well warmed by 

 exposure to the sun, and then water liberally three 

 or four successive evenings, and then give no more 

 for a fortnight. 



Sutton says ' the plants should be only pinched 

 once, and there is no occasion to set their bloom, 

 and let them grow as they please/ If good, strong 

 plants are set out about the middle of May there 

 will be plenty of cucumbers to cut in July if 

 rightly managed. 



Where cucumbers which grow in frames are 

 desired straight, it is a good plan to utilise cracked 

 lamp chimneys by placing them so that they grow 

 into them, though to purchase a few new ones 

 would not be ruinous, and would greatly improve 

 the appearance of the cucumber. 



Premature Decay of Cucumbers. — There are 

 various causes for this, such as over-cropping, dry- 

 ness of the roots, or stagnation caused by too 

 much moisture at the roots, or insufficient drainage ; 

 also fluctuation of temperature will cause the 

 young fruit to turn yellow. Another cause may 

 be, if in a cucumber house and no fire heat is 

 employed on a cool night succeeding a hot day, 

 the plants receive a check which causes a stop- 

 page of growth and the fruit to decay. 



A very troublesome disease which occasionally 

 attacks cucumbers is that warty excrescences 

 form on the roots, which cause the plants to 



