166 GARDEN GUIDE 



they will succeed in almost any garden soil, provided there is good 

 drainage. 



The greatest difficulty in succeeding with Cucumbers and other 

 curcubits or vine crops, is to protect them from the striped yellow 

 beetle, the Melon louse and the black wilt. To make sure of a 

 crop give a general purpose spraying every ten days or two 

 weeks, using a soapy-nicotine spray. As it is essential to 

 cover the underside of the leaves as well as the surface, an angle 

 nozzle should be used and a sprayer sufficiently strong to produce 

 a good mist spray. Where such a sprayer is not available, dry 

 spraying or dusting may be substituted, keeping the plants well 

 covered from early growth. Much earlier crops and better results 

 may be had, by starting the plants in paper pots in cold frames as 

 recommended for sweet corn. It is well, however, to use larger 

 pots say, 4 in. square. Fill each about half full with a compost 

 of light soil and old, thoroughly rotted manure. Thin out to three 

 or four plants, and after they have been set out long enough to 

 become established, thin to two plants to a hill. Keep the soil 

 between th plants well cultivated until the vines cover it. In 

 setting out started plants the hills or rows should be enriched with 

 well rotted manure or guano or blood and bone, the same as when 

 planting seeds. A method of insuring a good stand from seed is to 

 soak half of the seed you have to plant over night in warm water, 

 dry it off in fine dust or land plaster, and mix with the rest planting 



. two together, covering some preferably a little deeper than others. 

 The advantage of this is that whatever the conditions that follow 

 planting may be, enough of the seeds to make a good stand are pretty 

 certain to come through. If the vines are wanted to continue 

 bearing for a long time, pick off fruits as they mature, whether they 

 are needed or not. For late use and for pickling, a second planting 

 may be made the latter part of June. 



EGG-PLANT. The Egg-plant is another vegetable which revels in 

 the richest soil and an abundance of moisture. General culture is 

 the same as that recommended for Tomatoes, except that the plants 

 do not have to be staked up or pruned. The plants should be grown 

 in pots and for best results repotted once or twice so that they are 

 in three and a hah" or fours when set outdoors, which should not be 

 until after Tomatoes are planted. The most dangerous enemy to 

 be encountered in growing Egg-plants is the striped Potato bug. 

 Arsenate of lead paste may be used, but if a few plants are grown, 

 hand picking (knocking the beetles off with a small stick or paddle 

 into a pan half full of kerosene and water) will prove effective and 

 will give little trouble as the beetles are killed before they eat. 



