13 



who are subject to more competition in their business, are continually 

 making use of the best materials and principles in greenhouse con- 

 struction and management. 



Varieties of Cucumbers Grown. 



Most of the cucumbers grow in greenhouses are of the White 

 Spine or some similar variety, and in many instances 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 i8 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 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 common hybrid type) makes a cucumber 

 slightly longer than the White Spine, and of a considerably darker 

 color. The quality of this Hybrid is good, but is not superior to 

 that of the White Spine. Its darker green color makes it more 

 desirable for some marketmen than the White Spine. The vine of 

 the English Telegraph is a more rapid grower than that of the White 

 Spine, and is, perhaps, more inclined to wilt than the'latter. The 

 Telegraph, so far as our experience goes, sets all its fruit on the lat- 

 erals ; whereas the White Spine and other varieties bear some fruit 

 on the main shoot. The Giant Pera is sometimes crossed with the 

 White Spine to form a hybrid. According to our observations it is 

 not a desirable strain, either as a cross or by itself. It appears to 

 be a very prepotent type. In a house where we had three other 

 varieties growing in equal numbers, which were cross fertilized by 

 bees, the seed selected from a large variety of typical vines showed 

 in the succeeding year a remarkable predominance of the Giant Pera 

 strain. Other varieties of English, Russian and Japanese cucumbers 

 are sometimes grown for a novelty. As yet, however, they have not 

 made headway in finding a market in this State. 



*See cover. Hybrid type at the top. Telegraph in middle, and White Spine at the 

 bottom. 



