November 21,. 1872. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



397 









WEEKLY 



CALENDAR 



















Day 



Day 





Average Tempera- 



Rain in 



Sun 



Son 









Clock 



Day i 



Month 



Week. 



NOVEMBER 21—27, 1872. 



ture near London. 



43 years. 



Rises. 



Sets. 



Rises. 



Se 



ts. 



Age. 



after 

 Sun. 



of 

 Year. . 









Day. 



Night. 



Mean. 



Davs. 



m. h.* m. h. 



m. h. 



m. 



h. 



Days. 



m. s. 





21 



Th 





49.0 



36.2 



42.9 



26 



31 af7 



Iaf4 



20 9 



57 







20 



IS 51 



326 



22 



F 



St. Cecilia. 



49.2 



34.7 



41.9 



22 



32 7 



4 



SO 10 



21 



1 



21 



13 35 



327 



28 



S 





47.6 



34.2 



40.9 



18 



34 7 



59 3 



40 11 



88 



1 



( 



18 18 



328 ■ 



24 



Son 



26 Sunday after Trinity. 



47.4 



31.7 



39.5 



14 



35 7 



58 3 



morn. 1 54 



1 



23 



13 



329 



25 



M 



Michaelmas Law Term ends. 



46.4 



33.7 



40.0 



22 



87 7 



57 8 



50 8 



2 



24 



12 41 



330 J 



26 



Tu 





47.2 



32.9 



40.0 



23 



89 7 



56 3 



2 2 



2(1 



2 



25 



12 22 



331 



27 



W 



Princess Mary of Teck born, 1833. 



47.0 



33.6 



40.3 



20 



40 7 



55 3 



15 3 



35 



2 



26 



12 2 



332 



From observations taken near London during forty-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 47.8°; 



anc 



its night temperature ■ 



38.6°. The greatest heat was 62^, on the 25th, 1S63 ; and the lowestcold 9°, on the 25th, 1858. The greatest fall of rain was O.i 



5 inch. 





THE CULTURE OF WINTER CUCUMBERS. 



' ROM now until the month of March where 

 a large supply of Cucumbers is required, 

 How to obtain them ? is a most important 

 question. Of course where proper appli- 

 ances are provided there is little difficulty ; 

 but many gentlemen expect to have Cucum- 

 bers whenever they require them, and are 

 not willing to go to the expense of proper 

 houses. 



I have seen Cucumbers grown in almost 

 every form of house, and have arrived at the conclusion 

 that the best is the half-span. A new range of houses 

 has been built here on the half-span principle for growing 

 Cucumbers in winter and for early Melons, and nothing 

 can answer better than they do. These houses are 

 11 feet wide, 10 feet 6 inches high from the ground line 

 to the apex of the roof, and the beds, which extend along 

 the front of the houses, are 5 feet wide. The path is 

 under the ridge ; and a stage, 2 feet wide, runs along the 

 back of the house. They are thoroughly heated by four 

 rows of 4-inch pipes, so that a temperature of 65° can be 

 maintained during the most severe weather in winter. 

 One of the first, if not the first house of this description 

 was built by Mr. James Gray, of Danvers Street, Chelsea, 

 in his own yard, and there, close to the heart of London, 

 he managed to cultivate Cucumbers most successfully. 

 They were planted out in the bed, and the vines trained 

 to a wire trellis fixed to the roof. The trellis I had con- 

 structed here is moveable, and is fixed as close to the 

 roof as possible during winter, and removed further from 

 the glass in summer. 



Although it is highly important to have a well-con- 

 structed, efficiently-heated, and well-ventilated house, 

 s k i l ful management is also very necessary. I will de- 

 scribe the method of culture we pursue here. The beds 

 are furnished with two rows of 3-inch pipes, over these 

 is laid a good depth of brickbats, over these again is 

 placed a layer of turf, grass side downwards. I do not 

 fill up all the bed at once, but divide it longitudinally 

 with a wall of turf, and I fill the front half with the 

 compost in which the Cucumbers are planted. The com- 

 post consists of good turfy loam four parts, welt-decayed 

 manure one part, and is trodden-in rather firmly with 

 the feet. I like the plants to be of a good size before 

 planting-out. 



One mistake wbich is frequently made with Cucumbers 

 — those grown for the winter supply especially — is over- 

 cropping them ; it is quite impossible to keep up a supply 

 if this be done. The plants that will bear fruit from 

 Christmas onwards ought not to bear much previous to 

 that date. I like to have plenty of short-jointed healthy 

 young shoots to start with, and as the days lengthen a 

 night temperature of from 65° to 70° may be maintained. 

 The Cucumber suffers much from insect pests, thrips 

 and red spider being especially annoying. The thrips are 

 best destroyed with tobacco smoke, and the red spider 

 will succumb to repeated and effectual syringing. If the 



No. 60S.— Vol. XXIII., New Series. 



plants are clean it is not advisable to syringe them daily 

 in winter ; indeed it is better not to syringe any more in 

 winter than is required to destroy red spider. 



The best variety to grow, to keep up a constant supply 

 of useful fruit during the winter, is Telegraph ; the fruit 

 is not large, but can be obtained in quantity. I do not 

 grow it, as I am not required to keep up a large and 

 continuous supply ; my endeavour is to obtain handsome 

 specimens, and for this purpose I grow two sorts — viz., 

 Tender and True, an exceedingly handsome sort I raised 

 some two years ago. It was exhibited before the Fruit 

 Committee of the Royal Horticultural Society, and re- 

 ceived a first-class certificate. I have exhibited it many 

 times since, and it has always gained the highest award. 

 Blue Gown is the other sort grown here ; it is also an 

 excellent exhibition kind, and when true is black-spined, 

 and has a thick bluish bloom. It is very difficult to 

 save the seed true from any of these good sorts, as I find 

 they do not take freely with then- own pollen. 



I have already advised to fill up at first only half 

 the bed on planting-out ; when the plants show signs of 

 requiring a run of fresh compost the other half should 

 be filled up with that already recommended. The plants 

 ought also to be looked over once a-week, the young 

 growing shoots stopped when necessary, and tied to the 

 trelhswork. All decaying leaves ought to be removed as 

 soon as perceived, and do not allow the plants to be over- 

 crowded at any time with shoots. In cold unfavourable 

 weather the ventilation ought to be carefully attended to, as 

 chilly draughts will much injure the plants. — J. Douglas. 



ELECTION OF STRAWBERRIES. 

 I send you a return of Strawberries made by eight 

 different growers to me, and, including my own, the return 

 will be from nine persons. As the same numbers have 

 not been mentioned by ah, it is difficult to make a very 

 exact conclusion as to the merits. The following is an 

 approximation : — 



1. Sir J. Paxton (Bradley). — Named by eight; placed 

 among the first three by three, with sixteen votes in its 

 favour. Medium season, fine quality, good bearer. 



2. President. — Named by eight ; placed among the 

 first three by two, with fourteen votes recorded. Medium 

 season, good quality, free bearer. 



3. British Queen (Myatt). — Named by seven, with seven 

 votes. Medium season, fine flavour. Requires strong 

 soil. 



4. Dr. Hogg (Bradley). — Named by six, with ten votes; 

 placed among the first three by two persons. Medium 

 season, fine flavour, large fruit. Requires strong soil. 



5. Cockscomb (Royal Gardens).— Named by six, with 

 ten votes. Medium season, very large fruit. 



6. Eleanor (Myatt). — Named by five, with eight votes. 

 Large fruit, late season, good cropper, inferior flavour; 

 placed in the first three by one person. 



7. Lucas (De Jonghe).— Named by four, with six votes; 

 placed among the first three by one person. Mid- season, 

 fine flavour, good cropper. Requires good soil. 



No. 1200.— Vol. XLVIII , Old Series. 



