POLLINATION. 203 



two months after being placed in the beds the encumbers 

 should be ready for market. If to follow the second 

 crop of lettuce that will be taken off in January, the 

 seed should be sown the first of December, and after 

 being transplanted into four- or five-inch pots, will be 

 ready to be placed in the beds as soon as they are filled 

 with roots. 



For a few days after the plants are set in the beds, 

 the temperature at night should not be above 60 degrees, 

 but as soon as the plants are established it should be 

 gradually raised to 65 degrees at night, and it may reach 

 80 or 85 degrees during the day if the sun is shining, 

 but it will be desirable not to have it above 70 degrees 

 in cloudy weather. With this high temperature, there 

 is great danger of red spider, and the walks should be 

 wet down morning and evening, and the plants should 

 be occasionally syringed on bright mornings, with water 

 from which the chill has been taken. 



Unless the soil is deep and rich, liquid manure can 

 be used to advantage once a week after the roots have 

 penetrated all parts of it, especially if the plants are 

 close together, and mulching is also advisable. 



POLLINATION. 



In order to secure the development of fruit upon 

 most of the common varieties of cucumbers, artificial 

 fertilization of the flowers must be resorted to, when 

 they are grown in forcing houses during the winter, 

 unless a hive of bees is placed in the house for the pur- 

 pose of carrying the pollen from the staminate flowers to 

 the pistils. It can be done by taking the pollen upon a 

 small brush and dusting it over the pistils, and will be 

 necessary unless some of the English forcing varieties 

 are grown. They will develop without pollen, and it is 

 thought by some growers that they should not be polli- 

 nated, as it is likely to cause an enlargement at the ends 

 of the fruit. Of course, the seeds will not fill out unless 



