CUCUMBERS 245 



sturdy, rapid growth. With this treatment it is possible to bring 

 cucumbers into fruit in the latitude of Norfolk by the middle of May. 



As soon as the weather is sufficiently settled and the danger of 

 cold waves or chilly nights is past, the sash are removed and stored 

 until needed "in the autumn. The boards of the frame are stacked 

 until required for other purposes, and the cucumbers are given the 

 entire area. Cucumbers produced under these conditions are of 

 necessity more expensive than those grown in the open, but since 

 they mature several weeks in advance of the field crop they find a 

 market in which there is little competition except from cucumbers 

 grown in forcing houses. The result is that, as a rule, satisfactory 

 prices are obtained for this product. Cucumbers grown in this way 

 are usually marketed in boxes or half-bushel peach baskets of the 

 Delaware type. 



Greenhouse forcing. The forcing of cucumbers presupposes 

 an adequate forcing house or greenhouse. The chief requirements 

 of such a house are a maximum amount of light, sufficient headroom, 

 and radiation adequate to maintain a temperature varying from 65 

 to 85 F. The amount of radiation will, of course, depend upon 

 the style of heating employed, whether steam or hot water, and 

 upon the locality, whether at the North or at the South, the outside 

 temperature determining to a considerable extent the amount of 

 radiation required. 



The greenhouse for cucumbers may be a broad, even-span house, 

 with a ridge running north and south, as shown in figure 23. It 

 should have foundations extending 1 8 or 20 inches above the sur- 

 face of the ground, and glass from the foundations to the angle 

 formed by the eaves, which should be of sufficient height to give 

 good headroom inside the house. A distance of 5 feet from the 

 floor level to the angle of the eaves is not too great, and 6 feet 

 is more desirable. The angle of the roof should be about 30 in 

 the latitude of Philadelphia and northward. In large houses it is 

 the common practice to use solid benches that is, the earth of the 

 benches in which the plants are to be grown rests directly upon 

 the surface of the ground. 



In houses from 40 to 60 feet wide, walks are provided along the 

 sides, and the A-shaped trellises for the support of the cucumbers 

 run crosswise. In other cases the plants are set in rows 6 feet 



