NOTES ON WINTER GARDENING. IO3 



The seeds may be sown in the soil where they are to grow or 

 may be started in pots and afterwards transplanted. We 

 usually prefer the latter method. In either case a catch crop 

 may be taken from the bench before the cucumbers are large 

 enough to interfere. 



In some sections of the country the English forcing cucum- 

 bers are highly prized and it is mainly to this class that atten- 

 tion has been given at the Experiment Station. The cucumbers 

 of this group are very large, varying from fifteen inches to two 

 feet in length, and are practically seedless. The quality is 

 of the best, but the demand for English cucumbers is limited to 

 the fancy trade. Figure 4 represents three of the most popu- 

 lar varieties. 



In New England the White Spine, or one of its improved 

 forms, is almost universally grown, and the solid bed rather 

 than the shallow bench is generally used. 



As already noted the crop is started any time after the first 

 of September, but the common practice among the larger 

 growers is to raise two and sometimes three crops of lettuce 

 in the house before giving up the space to cucumbers. 



About December i cucumber seed is sown in a warm house 

 over strong bottom heat. When well started, the young plants 

 are transplanted once or twice to encourage root growth and 

 by the first week in January are in five or six inch pots, and 

 ready for planting out as soon as the lettuce is removed.. 



Before setting the plants, trenches about one and one-half 

 feet deep and a foot wide are dug about ten feet apart running 

 the full length of the house. These are partly filled with fer- 

 menting manure, which should be firmly packed as for a hot 

 bed. The soil is then replaced in the trenches, and the plants 

 set directly over the manure. 



The plants are set three and one-half feet apart, two plants at 

 each point for training in opposite directions. Trellises are 

 then made, by placing A shaped supports of iron or wood 

 between each two rows. These supports reach from the bed 

 nearly to the glass and horizontal wires are stretched over 

 them. In this way a V shaped space is left at each row of 

 plants. 



