406 



GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



equally. After remaining for some six days, and being again tested, the heap may be 

 taken and built up into a hot-bed, on which the frame is to rest. That bed must be 12 

 inches longer and broader than the frame, that it may securely stand on it. The bed 

 should be firmly trodden when made, and be rather higher behind than in front, being 

 in a sheltered place, and facing the south. So soon as made the frame can be placed on 

 it, with a mound 6 inches deep in the middle of good turfy loam, with which is mixed 

 a very little well-decayed manure. An inch thick of the soil may be spread over the 

 rest of the bed. The glass light may then be put on. Any spare litter or straw can be 

 packed round the bed to exclude wind and air, and over the frame mats may be laid. 

 When the frame is found to be filled with steam, tilt the light a couple of inches at the 

 back to allow it to escape. When that steam declines the Cucumber plants may be put 

 out into the mound, the roots being well buried, but very little of the stems. For a 

 single-light frame two plants are ample. After planting give a good watering with tepid 

 water and shut down the light. It may be well to shade a little in hot sunshine, but the 

 glass should be covered with mats at night. In a couple of weeks tiny white roots will 

 be seen coming out from the mound of soil. Then another inch or so may be added all 

 over the bed, and that will suffice for the season. A gentle watering should be given each 

 other day, and the leafage syringed each afternoon just as the sun is going off. 



After Culture consists chiefly in keeping shoots fairly thin, admitting a little air, fre- 

 quent dampings or syringings, and should green-fly appear on the leaves, giving an occa- 

 sional smoking with tobacco, filling the frame with smoke, and covering it up close for a 

 few hours, when no doubt the insects will be found dead. A hot-bed of this description 

 should not be made up until the middle of April, as by the time the heat is gone the sun 

 will be warm enough to satisfy the plants' needs. Attacks of red spider or thrips on the 

 leaves, causing them to turn brown and wither up, are the result chiefly of keeping the 

 soil and plants too dry. 



House Culture. For forcing Cucumbers early the best description of house is one that 

 is low and narrow, having beds on either side of soil on which the plants may be grown, 

 and plenty of hot-water piping to keep up a good heat. But where there is only a small 

 house with little heat the beginner should, as for a frame, purchase strong plants in pots 

 from a florist rather than attempt to raise them, as that involves so much trouble and 

 loss of time. In such a house a very large flower-pot or a box 12 inches wide and broad, 

 and 10 inches deep, will do for the soil, or that may be with some turf at the bottom and 

 sides built up in the form of a mound, 2 feet across and 12 inches deep in the middle, the 

 plants being put out in or on these things singly. If pits or boxes be used they should 

 have large holes in them to allow water to percolate through. The best drainage 

 consists of rough pieces of old broken turf, the soil as advised for frames being placed 

 upon it. If there be no artificial heat in the house it will be best to wait before 

 planting until the middle of May, when strong plants may be put out safely. Such plants 

 after they make a strong leading shoot, which at 12 inches long has to be pinched back, 

 soon produce several shoots. These must be trained to wires or laths secured just about 

 10 inches under or below the glass roof, and in time these shoots will cover a large 

 area in this way. It will be needful occasionally to cut or pinch out some of the non- 

 fruitful shoots, or otherwise the plants will become far too crowded. Male flowers, which 

 are not fruit producers, come first and numerously. Female flowers appear on the points 

 of the fruit, and usually open after the fruits are from i to 2 inches in length. It is needful 

 to fertilise these by using pollen from the male flowers only when seed fruits are needed, 

 but to get proper fruits for table, fertilising the flower is wrong, as the fruits are less fitted 

 for eating. 



House Cucumbers need frequent syringings, indeed quite twice daily, except when the 

 weather is dull and cold. The door of the house where the plants are may be partially 

 open during the day, but must be shut close up at night. Damp down the paths and 

 staging then to generate a moist atmosphere which the plants like, whilst plants thus 

 grown will need a liberal watering every other day. Later, when several fruits have been 

 out, it is well to make some weak liquid manure and give them a good watering with 

 that at least once a week. It is wise, however, in all cases not to allow water to come 

 into close contact with the main stems. 



Varieties of Cucumber for glass culture are numerous, amongst the best being Lockie's 

 Perfection, Telegraph, Rochford's Market, Peerless, Matchless, and Sutton's Ai, the 

 latter three being specially good for exhibition. For ordinary frame culture Sutton's A i 

 and Telegraph are the best. 



Endive. This is a leaf salad, hardier than Lettuce, and suited only for winter use. 

 When properly grown and blanched white, the leaf hearts of the plants make excel- 

 lent food. One sowing of seed usually suffices for ordinary needs. That sowing may be 

 made about the third week in July, thinly, in a bed in the open ground. When the plants 

 are strong they should be lifted carefully and dibbled out in rows 12 inches apart, on 



