324 



THE GAEDENEE'S ASSISTANT. 



materials already in a state of fermentation, 

 such as hot stable-dung, for the purpose of 

 affording additional heat. Dry litter or straw 

 will prevent the escape of heat, and is therefore 

 proper for surrounding the bed. Straw mats 

 may also be advantageously employed above 

 the linings. 



Fruiting -bed. — Materials must be prepared as 

 directed for the seed-bed. Where leaves can be 

 had it is a good plan to mix a quantity of them 

 with the dung, to make the fermentation less 

 violent and more lasting. If the bed is made up 

 in the first week in February, the height may 

 be 4 feet in front and 4J feet at back. The 

 bed is formed layer by layer, like the seed-bed. 

 The frame and lights ought to be put on and 

 kept close till the heat has risen to the surface 

 of the bed, which should then be forked over- 

 several times, at intervals of two or three days, 

 to the depth of 9 inches or 1 foot, still, how- 

 ever, keeping the short materials at the top. 

 If the dung should be dry, or likely to become 

 so, it must be watered ; but care must be taken 

 not to give such a quantity of water as to chill 

 the bed. Holes are occasionally bored in the 

 sides of the bed with a stick when it is necessary 

 to lower the temperature before or after the 

 plants are introduced. The sticks should be 

 put in about two-thirds above the foundation 

 of the bed, and ought to point a little down- 

 wards towards the centre. If the heat is not 

 above 85°, or even 90°, there is no danger of its 

 injuring the plants. 



Three or four days at least before the plants 

 are introduced into the frame the soil should 

 be added. 



It will be well to place the plants in the 

 frame a day or two before planting out. Each 

 plant should be elevated on a little mound a 

 few inches above the level of the bed. 



Watering. — Cucumber plants should always 

 have plenty of moisture regularly supplied, the 

 demand increasing as the plant develops. It 

 depends also on the temperature, and on the 

 amount of ventilation. Care should be taken 

 that the temperature of the water, both for 

 watering the bed and for syringing, is about 

 the same as that of the soil in which the plants 

 are growing. In winter or early in spring the 

 soil should be watered at about 10 a.m., closing 

 the lights for a short time to prevent a chill 

 through rapid evaporation, then gradually admit- 

 ting more or less air according to circumstances. 

 In dull, moist weather it is advisable not to wet 

 the foliage, and the stem as well as the soil 

 immediately surrounding it should be kept dry. 



In summer, watering is usually done at about 

 four o'clock in the afternoon. 



Ventilation. — Air requires to be admitted with 

 great caution in the early part of the season, 

 when the disparity between the temperature 

 within the frame and that of the external air 

 is considerable. When the plants are young 

 and tender from growing in a warm, moist 

 atmosphere, they are very delicate. In winter 

 and early spring little air should be given. It 

 must never be given to lower the temperature, 

 but rather to prevent it from becoming too 

 high; for example, if 90° may be permitted by 

 sun-heat, air should be given in such time and 

 manner as will prevent the temperature from 

 rising above that point, instead of allowing it to 

 rise, say to 100°, and then lowering it to 90° by 

 giving a large amount of air. Doubtless the 

 true principle of giving air is to admit it as 

 progressively as the temperature increases. This, 

 of course, could not be carried out in practice; 

 nevertheless, it should be borne in mind and 

 acted on as far as circumstances will permit. 



The bad effects of a draft of cold air admitted 

 directly into the frame might be prevented by 

 employing small-meshed garden netting placed 

 so that the ingress of cold air and egress of warm 

 must be through two folds 3 or 4 inches apart. 



Coverings. — Until the nights become warm 

 these are necessary. It would be desirable to 

 have them of a description that would keep the 

 glass both warm and dry. Double mats are 

 used in severe weather. When the nights are 

 very cold, and especially if the heat of the bed 

 is not very strong, a thin coating of hay next 

 the glass is a great protection. As the cold de- 

 creases, the covering may be reduced to a single 

 mat, and in summer that may be dispensed 

 with. 



Shading is necessary when the sun's rays are 

 powerful but the air is too cold to be admitted 

 to an extent sufficient to counteract their effects. 

 It is employed at other times when the plants 

 are evidently suffering from a very hot sun, as 

 is most apt to be the case on a sudden outbreak 

 of sun after dull weather. 



Pruning. — The Cucumber naturally extends 

 its branches to a much greater distance than the 

 width of an ordinary frame; and if their growth 

 were not regulated by priming, they would 

 become overcrowded and weakened in conse- 

 quence. Stopping the plants at every stage of 

 their growth, as already directed, will cause 

 several shoots to break near the base. Select 

 three, or at most four of these, of as nearly equal 

 strength as possible, for principal branches. En- 



