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Varieties of Cucumbers grown. 

 Most of the varieties of cucumbers grown in greenhouses are the 

 White Spine or some similar strain, and in manj' instances a H3brid 

 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 18 to 20 inches or more in 

 length, and is largely used in forcing houses in England. In this coun- 

 try 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 

 but that it would be utilized more largely. A stock of White Spine 

 having about one-fourth of the English Telegraph in it (which consti- 

 tutes the Hybrid type) makes a cucumber slightly longer than the White 

 Spine, and of a considerably darker color. The quality of the Hybrid is 

 good, but is not superior to the White Spine. The darker green color 

 makes it more desirable for some marketmen than the lighter colored 

 White Spine. The vine of the P^nglish Telegraph is a more rapid 

 grower than the White Spine, and perhaps more inclined to wilt than 

 the latter. The Telegraph, so far as our experience goes, sets all its 

 fruit on the laterals ; whereas the White Spine and other varieties bear 

 some fruit on the main shoot. 



Types of Houses devoted to Cucumbers. 

 In the economic production of cucumbers under glass the style of 

 house utilized plays an impoitant role. As a rule, cucumber houses have 

 double glass, i.e., they are constructed out of two layers of glass set 

 about li or 2 inches apart, leaving an air space in between. The ob- 

 ject of this is to prevent the radiation of heat, or, in other words, to save 

 coal. Most cucumber houses are from 15 to 23 feet wide, and scarcely 

 ever exceeding 200 feet in length. They have benches along the sides 

 and in the middle, the side rows of cucumbers being trained up the 

 sides and roof, while the middle ones are trained vertically. These 

 houses are usually heated with hot water. The beds are generally 

 slightly raised above ground, and contain in depth about 1 foot of soil* 

 They are frequently provided with porous tile, which is used for the 

 purpose of sub-irrigation, and, if necessary, can be used for steriliz- 

 ing the soil. When cucumbers are grown in lettuce houses, they are 

 planted directly in the ground beds, the rows, some 8 or 10 feet apart, 

 being trained in the form of the letter " A." The type of house utilized 

 by lettuce growers is preferable for the production of cucumbers grown 

 at any season of the year, but there are only a few instances where this 

 tyjje of house is used exclusively for this purpose. The light conditions 

 and exposure of the plants are much more favorable when grown in a 

 lettuce house than when grown in a typical cucumber house. Lettuce 

 houses are wider than cucumber houses, and generally longer ; but, not- 

 withstanding this, they can be built at a less cost per linear foot than 

 houses which are narrower. From a large number of statistics which 

 we have obtained relating to the cost of various tj'jies of houses devoted 



