CUCUMBERS 27 



plants may be induced to make if they have sufficient energy 

 to do so. Judiciously done from time to time, the life and 

 productivity of a plant may be more than once renewed. It 

 should be done by degrees ; that is, the exhausted portion 

 should be removed directly it is noticed, so as not to make 

 one huge surgical operation defeat the very object you have 

 in view. 



The trimming, which may be considered as part of the pruning, 

 means the removal of old and spent foliage which, directly it 

 begins to turn yellow, becomes a danger to the plant and there- 

 fore must be removed. Where there is a succession of growths, 

 as with the cucumber, there must of necessity be a certain 

 quantity of old foliage, and as this becomes spent, its removal 

 admits the light which is so essential to the younger foliage 

 coming on, so that in cutting it away a danger is removed and 

 light is admitted. But so long as it remains green and healthy 

 it is doing useful work and cannot be spared. 



PESTS AND DISEASES 



As we have already intimated, insect enemies attack cucumbers 

 to an alarming extent. Green aphis, red spider, and thrip are 

 between them quite capable of destroying a crop. We have 

 frequently seen cucumbers exposed for sale at the greengrocers 

 simply swarming with thrip, and we have wondered what the 

 ignorant buyers and consumers would say if they were told 

 what monsters they were eating. " Where ignorance is bliss," 

 etc. No reputable grower would produce, much less sell, fruits 

 in such condition. 



Apart from the constant and regular syringing we have recom- 

 mended as a preventive of these pests, the only way to exter- 

 minate them when they have established themselves is by 

 fumigation or cyaniding. The former is not dangerous and has 

 stood the test of time ; the latter is the latest scientific method, 

 efficacious, but demands very careful handling. Either method 

 can only be adopted when the plants have been specially allowed 

 to become dry about their foliage. 



The fungoid diseases are a more serious proposition. They 

 are usually referred to as " spot " diseases, and though quite 



