240 GARDEN FARMING 



growing of plants out of their normal season under an artificial 

 environment. The cucumber is one of the few garden plants which 

 lend themselves to this manner of cultivation in addition to their 

 more extensive cultivation in the open. 



Types of forcing cucumbers. Under the influence of field and 

 forcing conditions, two distinct types of cucumbers have been de- 

 veloped. These are recognized in the trade as the English type 

 and the American type. The English type is purely a product of 

 forcing-house conditions, as the climate of England is not congenial 

 to the growth and development of the cucumber in the open. The 



FIG. 87. English cucumbers showing type and method of supporting the fruits 



American type of cucumber is primarily a product of field condi- 

 tions, and the few varieties which have been developed to meet the 

 requirements of the forcing house are simply modifications of the 

 existing field or outdoor forms or crosses with the English. 



The English type of cucumber, shown in figure 87, is a long, 

 cylindrical, uniformly green fruit, without spines, and with few 

 seeds and a very fleshy seed cavity ; in fact, the normal seed cavity 

 is almost entirely wanting in the English cucumber. The triangu- 

 lar shape characteristic of the normal outdoor variety has been lost, 

 and the cylindrical outline almost perfected. There is consider- 

 able difference in the size of the English varieties of cucumbers, 

 the length varying from 18 inches to 3 feet, and the diameter 



