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THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



egg - shaped, yellow, 

 smooth, and a little 

 larger than a hen's egg. 

 This variety, which is the 

 earliest of all, ripens fully 

 in less than three months, 

 and does not require 

 any pinching or stopping. 

 The flesh of the fruit is 

 not very thick, and is 

 slightly bitter, but its re- 

 markable earliness makes 

 some amends for these 

 trifling defects. In Russia 

 there are many varieties 

 of it, the earliest of which, 



Brown Netted, or Khiva, Cucumber ( natural size), generally producing but 



one fruit to each plant, 

 is said to complete its entire growth in ten or eleven weeks. 



Brown Netted, or Khiva, Cucumber. As the very early 

 small-fruited Cucumbers 

 grow better in Russia 

 than any other kind, a 

 great many distinct forms 

 of them are cultivated in 

 that country. They are 

 not all so well known in 

 France. We shall, how- 

 ever, notice, next to the 

 preceding variety, which 

 is remarkable for its ex- 

 treme earliness, another 

 kind, which, although 

 coming very near it in 

 some respects, is strikingly 

 distinct from it in the 

 colour and appearance of 

 the skin of the fruit. 

 When ripening, the fruit 

 of this variety does not 

 take on the yellow tint 

 common to a great 

 number of other varieties 

 of Cucumbers, but its 

 skin turns brown, inter- 

 sected by numerous lines Long Turkish Cucumber. 



