March 23, 1871. ] 



JOURNAL OP HOBTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



209 







WEEKLY 



CALENDAR. 















Day 



Day 





Average Tempera- 



Rain in 



Sun 



Snn 







Moon's 



Clock 



Day 



Month 



Week. 



MAECH 23—29, 1871. 



ture near Loudon. 



43 years. 



Rises. 



Seta. 



Rises. 



Sets. 



Age. 



Sun. 



Tear. 









Day. 



Niuht. 



Mean. 



Days. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



Days. 



m. s. 





23 



Th 



Meeting of Royal Society. 8.30 p.ir. 



60.7 



88.1 



41.9 



18 



69af5 



15af6 



18af7 



49af8 





6 46 



82 



24 



P 





48.7 



81.7 



40.2 



16 



67 5 



17 6 



86 7 



58 9 



3 



6 28 



88 



25 



S 



Lady Day. 



50.9 



82.8 



41.9 



16 



64 5 



18 6 



55 7 



5 11 



4 



6 9 



84 



26 



Snrr 



5 Sunday in Lent. 



51.8 



82.6 



42.2 



16 



52 5 



20 6 



20 8 



morn. 



6 



5 61 



85 



27 



M 



Meeting of Eoyal Geographical Society, 



64.1 



84.1 



44.1 



14 



60 5 



22 6 



48 8 



11 



6 



5 82 



86 



28 



To 



[ 8.30 p.m. 



63.0 



84.0 



43.6 



17 



48 5 



24 6 



23 9 



13 1 



7 



5 14 



87 



29 



W 



-Meeting of Society of Arts, 8 p.m. 



63.7 



8S.4 



43.6 



13 



45 5 



26 6 



8 10 



11 2 



3) 



4 55 



88 



From observations taken near London dnring forty-threo years, the average day temperature of the week is 51.8°, and its night tem- 



perature 83.1". The greatest heat was 75', on the 27th, 1830; and the lowest cold 14°, on the 25th, 1860. The greatest faU of rain was 



0.68 inch. 





1 



SUMMER CUCUMBER GROWING. 



SiSMSgSpART from those gardens possessing houses 

 or pits specially adapted for the growth of 

 Cuoiunbers, there are others, and by far the 

 greater number, where such conveniences do 

 not exist ; still Cucumbers are there required 

 to be produced for as long a period as 

 possible with the ordinary means at hand. 

 Where frames and fermenting materials are 

 forthcoming a goodly quantity of Cuoimibers 

 can be grown, but where there is a pit or an 

 ordinary small house commanding a little warmth, a very 

 plentiful supply can easily be produced ; and to explain 

 my method I cannot do better than describe a structure 

 in which I have succeeded in producing jibundant crops of 

 Cucumbers by very simple means. 



The house, a lean-to, 30 feet in length, by 9 feet 6 inches 

 wide, is heated by a flue, resting on the ground, running 

 along the front, and returning at about -S feet from the 

 back wall. There are two tables composed of oak planks, 

 3 feet wide, extending the length of the house, and divided 

 by a narrow walk of 18 inches in width, and there is a 

 2-feet walk at the back. On the table nearest to the back 

 the Cucumbers were planted, whilst the front table, as well 

 as the space at liberty on the back one, was fiUed during 

 the early part of the season with stove plants grown for 

 furnishing and dinner-table decoration. From the back 

 wall to half the width of the house, a wire trellis is fixed 

 at about a foot from the glass. 



In the first week in February the seeds of Masters's 

 Prolific Cucumber, an excellent variety, were sown singly 

 in 2-inch pots, and placed in a warm position at the end of 

 the house where the flue entered. As the young plants 

 came up and showed rough leaves, they were placed close 

 to the glass, and grown very steadily. They were shifted 

 when necessary into 6-inch pots, taking care that the pots 

 were thoroughly drained, and replaced close to the glass. 

 As soon as they were rooting freely to the sides of the 

 pots they were placed in large Sea-kale pots, taking care 

 not to bury the stem deeply in the soil. They were then 

 placed on the table at 2 feet 6 inches apart, and allowed to 

 grow very steadily so as to become sturdy, and were trained 

 to the trellis, which is just 3 feet from the table. They 

 were allowed to grow until witliin 18 inches of the back 

 wall, when the small point of the shoot was nipped out, 

 after which the fruit was soon produced. The plants were 

 always stopped at the first leaf after the fruit, as soon as 

 the point of the shoot could be laid hold of by the finger 

 and thumb. 



In the first week of April other Cucumber seeds were 

 sown, the kinds being Hamilton's Market Favourite and 

 Telegraph, both of which are first-rate Cucumbers. The 

 plants were grown exactly as the former ones until they 

 were turned out of the 32-sized or 6-inoh pots. Then, on 

 the table and between the pots containing the plants being 

 forced, some rough sods of peat or fresh-cut turf, with a 

 little rough charcoal, were placed, to the depth of 4 or 

 5 inches, over a space about 15 inches square ; on this was 



No. 621.— Vol. XX., New Seeies. 



put more loam, the plants were tiu-ned out of their pots, 

 and placed on this soil, and the ball of roots just covered 

 with soil. As the roots gradually work to the outside of 

 the mound more soil is added, always using rough sods 

 and charcoal upon the table. The soil for the additional 

 earthings, which must always be warmed, should be as 

 rough as possible and without manure ; and merely add 

 about 2 inches in thickness at a time at the outsides of the 

 mounds only, as the surface of the bed is not raised above 

 the original height, which is about 1 foot from the table. 

 By this method the plants do not rush into rampant 

 growth at first, and when fruited quickly do not decline, 

 as I have frequently seen them do, but the growth from 

 first to last is sturdy and short-jointed ; the additions of 

 soil given them keeping the strength and fruiting powers 

 of the plants in due proportion to the number of Cucumbers 

 produced. 



As the plants of the second sowing require space on' 

 the trellis, those in the pots are reduced, and ultimately 

 removed, after having yielded a heavy crop of Cucumbers, 

 every fruit that showed being taken from them. As the 

 pots are removed, earthing is continued until the mounds 

 join and form one continuous bed about 2 feet 6 inches 

 wide and 1 foot in depth, after which time very slight top- 

 dressings of sheep or deer dung, mixed with the loam, are 

 given, and occasional waterings of liquid manure. I have 

 had Cucumber plants continually fruiting in abundance 

 for six months, although each plant throughout the season 

 only received a barrowful of soil to grow in. 



The heat required for the young plants whilst in the 

 G-inch pots is 00° at night; and when planted out, and 

 throughout their fruiting, 65° at night will be sufficient ; 

 in fact, with the long bright days of summer, the tempera- 

 ture may be suffered to decline a few degrees below thig 

 at night, rather than use fire heat, provided the plants are 

 not subjected to a continued depression of temperature. 

 A slight amoimt of air should always be admitted, especially 

 when fire heat is used, and be careful to introduce fresh 

 air as early as possible in the morning, allowing the tem- 

 perature to rise, but gradually, to from 85° to 90° whilst 

 the sun strikes fully on the house. Keep the atmosphere 

 always moist by continued dampings, but only syringe the 

 plants once a-day, shutting up and syringing very early in 

 the afternoon, in fact as soon as the sun ceases to shine 

 fully on the house or pit. This syringing should consist 

 not of a slight damping only, but be a judicious saturation 

 of everything within the house. — T. C. Sage. 



CALCEOLARIAS FLOWERING LATE. 



I DO not think it necessary to make any practical' re- 

 marks about taking ofi' and putting in the cuttings, and 

 their treatment during the autumn and winter months, as 

 Mr. Eames, at page 179, has already given my practice 

 during that time, with the exception that I put a little 

 sand on the surface of the cutting bed. "■ ^'y 



About the end of March I prepare a trench 8 feet wide, 

 and put 3 inches of dung along the bottom ; I then mis 

 with it about 4 inches of the soil. I lift the young plants 



No. 117S.— Vol. XLV., Old Sbkjes. 



