CUCUMBER 



West India Gherkin, Cucumis Anguria : Figs. 590, 591. Vines 

 small and slender, somewhat resembling a slender water- 

 melon plant : fr. very abundant, small, ellipsoid, covered 

 v.-ith warts and spines, green, tardily whitening. Good for 

 pickles. 



These varieties are mostly all good for one purpose 

 or another. The small sorts are natur- 

 ally preferred for pickling, the medium 

 sorts for slicing, and the large, late va- 

 rieties for ripe fruits. The White 

 Spine varieties are great favorites for 

 slicing, and only less so for pickling. 



The unrelenting enemies of the Cucumber 

 in the field are the Cucumber beetles (Dia- 

 brotica, spp.) and the squash bug (Anasa 

 trial in). No effectual preventive measures 

 are known except to cover the young plants 

 with small wire or hoop frames, over which 

 fine netting is stretched. If the plants are 

 kept quite free from attack till these protec- 

 tors are outgrown, they will usually suffer lit- 

 tle damage. Plants started in hotbeds or green- 

 houses (see above) may usually be kept free at first, and 

 this is the chief advantage of such practices. The Cu- 

 cumber beetles are kept away somewhat at times by 

 strewing tobacco stems thickly under the plants ; and 

 kerosene emulsion will sometimes discommode the 

 young squash bugs without killing the vines, but usu- 

 ally not. "In the greenhouse, Cucumbers are liable to 

 damage from mite, aphis, root-gall and mildew. For the 



587. Pistillate flower of 



Cucumis Melo. 



Natural size. 



CUCUMIS 



407 



bed in which the temperature of the soil is 70 to 80. 

 Place them 3 or 4 inches apart. In about ten days they 

 will be large enough to transplant into pots. Six-inch 

 pots are preferred, two plants in each. In two weeks 



mite, syringe the plant and pick off the infested Ivs.; 

 for aphis, use tobacco fumigation and pick infested Ivs. ; 

 for root-gall, use soil which has been thoroughly frozen; 

 for mildew, improve the sanitary conditions, and then 

 use sulfur." Bailey, Forcing-Book. p\ A. WAUGH. 



FORCING OF CUCUMBERS. The growing of Cucumbers 

 under glass has become a large industry. Some years 

 ago they were forced only in the spring, but to-day they 

 are grown all the year round. The most difficult time 

 is in the short days of winter. At such times there is 

 always a good price for them and a brisk demand, and 

 the prospect is as good for the future. The house may be 

 even span and run either way, but many use two-thirds 

 span, with the long way to the south. When they are 

 continually grown year after year, it would be best to 

 have double glass and double thick, but for early fall 

 and late spring, one thickness of double glass is suffi- 

 cient. The house may be any length desired. For heat- 

 ing, steam is the best, with pipes arranged so that they 

 shall not be over 3% ft. from either side of the house. 

 Pipes \y in. in diameter are large enough. Larger 

 pipes give too much heat in one place. 



The soil should be good loam, new soil preferred, from 

 sod land. The plants are started in a box or small bed, 

 where the temperature can be run to about 90 . In 

 four or five days they will be ready to transplant into a 



588. Flowers of Cucumis sativus. 



they will be large enough to set in the house where they 

 are to grow. The plants are set 3% feet apart in the 

 row and rows 6 to 7 feet, according to the size of the 

 house. The vines should bear in four weeks. The crop 

 depends upon the season. The spring-grown plants will 

 produce double the crop of the fall- or winter-grown. 

 The pollinating may be done with bees. One hive in a 

 house of 24 by 100 feet, or in that proportion, will be 

 sufficient. In midwinter, hand-pollination may be neces- 

 sary. 



If grown properly, house Cucumbers are not often 

 troubled with insects, but sometimes the green-fly comes 

 upon them. In such cases, spray well with water, and 

 smoke often. The mildew or spot sometimes appears, 

 but never if the house has been taken care of properly. 

 There is no real cure for these fungous diseases but to 

 pull up the plants and begin again. Radishes or to- 

 matoes can be grown with Cucumbers. If radishes are 

 sown or transplanted in the house when the Cucumbers 

 are set out, they will be off before the Cucumbers begin 

 to bear; but all crops should be out of the house when 

 the Cucumbers are bearing. 



In this country, the White Spine type of Cucumber is 

 mostly used for forcing, although the long English kinds 

 are sometimes grown (particularly for home use). 



W. W. RAWSON. 



CUCUMBER BOOT. Same as Indian Cucumber, 

 Medeola Virginica. 



CUCUMBER TREE. See A verrhoa and Magnolia. 



CtTCUMIS (old Latin name). Cucurbitacece. Sterile 

 fls. in clusters, not long stalked, the fertile ones solitary 



589. Spray of Cucumis 

 sativus. 



'/ 



and mostly short-stalked in the axils : corolla of 5 deep, 

 acute lobes : stamens not united : stigmas 3, obtuse : 

 tendrils simple. Herbaceous vines, of nearly 30 tropi- 



