THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 265 
Succession. For a succession sow every two weeks. 
For pickling sow late in June or early in July. 
In cold frames. For the earliest fruit start im inverted 
sod in cold frames. Take sod from very rich soil. The 
pieces should be from four to six inches square. Turn 
them upside down, and pack close together in the frames. 
Place six or eight seeds in each piece of sod; plant them 
half an inch deep. As soon as they have made a good 
start, transfer them to the garden. Harden the plants 
by giving them some shade for a few days, and thin to 
the four strongest. Cucumber plants may also be started 
in five-inch flowerpots or in berry boxes. ; 
Cultivation. Keep a surface mulch until the vines 
cover the ground. 
Harvesting. The vines must be kept in good bearing 
condition by picking the fruit regularly. If they are left 
to ripen, the productiveness of the vines is weakened. 
Growing cucumbers in glass houses. For market pur- 
poses cucumbers are grown extensively in glass houses. 
The houses are warmed so that the vines may be growing 
and producing fruit at all seasons of the year. To render 
the plants productive it is necessary to fertilize the pistil- 
late flowers with pollen from the staminate flowers. This 
may be done by hand or by keeping a hive of bees in the 
house. The bees must be fed, for there is not a sufficient 
amount of food in cucumber flowers to nourish them. 
Diseases. For downy mildew and wilt, spray with 
Bordeaux mixture. Destroy diseased vines and rotate 
the crop as far as possible. 
