202 GREENHOUSE MANAGEMENT. 



within which the cucumbers can be gathered and the 

 vines tended. Still another way, in lean-to, or three- 

 quarter span houses, is to plant them in rows two feet 

 apart, with five or six feet between the rows, training 

 them towards the south upon wire trellises inclined at 

 an angle of about 45 or 50 degrees. The rows should be 

 about five feet from the south side of the beds. For use 

 in ordinary even-span houses, with a wide bed in the 

 center, and narrow ones on the sides, a good method is to 

 plant two rows in each of the side beds and four in the 

 center, at intervals of two feet each way, but so that the 

 plants in one row will stand halfway between those in the 

 adjoining row. The wires, each of which is to support 

 one of the vines, are placed one foot apart and run from 

 the walls to a point below the ridge, at a distance of from 

 ten to twelve inches below the glass. Stakes or strings 

 are used to support the vines until they have reached the 

 wires upon which they are to run. When the vines in 

 the outer row have reached a point over the edge of the 

 center bed, they should be pinched off, as should those 

 in the center bed when they reach the ridge. This will 

 cause side shoots to be sent out upon which the fruits 

 will be formed. 



When grown in solid beds, the necessary bottom 

 heat can be provided by making a hotbed under each 

 row. When the rows are close together, it will be nec- 

 essary to place the heating material under the entire 

 bed, but if three feet or more apart, it will only be nec- 

 essary to make a bed of fresh horse manure, about one 

 foot wide and deep, which is tramped down and covered 

 with eight inches of soil. When upon raised beds, the 

 required bottom heat can be secured from steam or hot 

 water pipes, as can also be done in solid beds. 



To supply a crop during the early winter, the seed 

 should be sown about the first of August, and can be 

 transplanted to the bed in about one month. In less than 



