48 



RICHARD FROTSCHEU'S ALMANAC AND GARDEN MANUAL 



Nine Mile Point, Jefferson Parish, 

 Sept. 17th, 1888. 



Mr. RICHARD FROTSCHER, 



New Orleans. 



Dear Sir: 



In compliance with your 

 request, "to give you a description of 

 my practice in growing Cucumbers," I 

 send you this. Old grov>'ers will not find 

 anything new in it, but to begin aers it 

 may be of some service. 



There are three methods in general 

 use by growers here. They are forcing 

 in hot- beds, growing in cold frames, and 

 the field crop. Of the first I have little 

 to sav here ; it requires a plentiful supply 

 of fresh stable manure, or other heating 

 material, and so obliges one to be located 

 where such can be had in abundance, 

 and in my opinion, to be uniformly 

 successful, requires also skilled labor. 



My practice for growing in the cold 

 frames is as follows. I make a good hot 

 bed. ( lot' doiog this you have given clear, 

 and am[)le instructions, in your Alma- 

 nac and Garden Manual) make the beds 

 large enough to hold three five inch 

 pots for every sash you have in your cold 

 frames; this will allow for one-third 

 dying. The hot bed should be made the 

 last week in December ; in a week after, 

 place your pots in the beds, fill the pots 

 »with a rich light soil, in this sow your 

 seed, seven or eight in each pot. cover 

 a little less than half an inch deep, let 

 the ground on toi> of the pots get dry 

 before watering, then water freely, close 

 up the sash and keei) it closed until the 

 seed begins to come up, which it will do 

 in less than three days. From this time 

 on, the hot bed must be carefully 

 watched, plenty of air given on bright 

 days, even pulling Ihe sash entirely off 

 for a few hours in the middle of warm 

 clear days. In cold cloudy weather keep 

 them closed, the young plants are, at 

 this stage, very liabe to damp off. To 

 prevent 1 his, give plenty of air when tlie 

 weather is good ; if it is wet and cold, 

 and the sash cannot be opened, sprinkle 

 plenty of air slacked lime in the frame. 

 Water only wdien dry, and then only in 

 fair weather. When the plants are well 



up, thin out to three in a pot. After the 

 second rough leaf is formed, pinch off 

 the top bud, this will make them stocky. 

 In four weeks after sowing the seeds, the 

 plants should be fit to set out in the cold 

 frames. The ground in the frames 

 should be made rich and light, loose 

 and well dug over with the spade. It is 

 important to prepare the soil in the cold 

 frames well, or a poor crop will be the 

 result. 



The transplanting from the hot-bed to 

 the cold frame should be done on a warm 

 calm day ; knock the plants out of the 

 pots carefully to avoid breaking the ball. 

 Plant two hills under each sash, at about 

 two feet apart, close up the sash as fast 

 as planted, and do not water until next 

 day ; do not give any air till the plants 

 recover the transplanting. As you will 

 now have to depend on the heat of the 

 sun to keep your plants growing, do not 

 open your sashes too wide, open them 

 only on fine days, and then open them 

 late in the morning, and close them 

 early in the evening. Two or three 

 weeks of this treatment will bring the 

 plants well forward, and as the weather 

 gets warmer, give more air, stir the 

 ground with a hoe to keep it loose, water 

 plentifully when needed. By the first 

 of March they should be setting fruit 

 freely. From this time on, the sash can 

 be pulled off entirely during the day, 

 and put on again at night ; as the weather 

 gets warmer give plenty of water, in fact 

 keep the ground almost wet. Cut off all 

 cucumbers as fast as they get large 

 enough for the market; do not leave 

 any on the vines to get old, as it will 

 have the effect of retarding the growth 

 of the young fruit; thus making the 

 vines less productive. 



For the field crop, we plant the seed 

 in strawberry boxes ; in cold frames, the 

 boxes are four inches each way, width,- 

 length and depth. This is the best 

 size ; they are without bottoms ; they are 

 packed in the frame close together, filled 

 with a good soil and 5 or 6 seed planted 

 in each box ; water, shut the sash and 

 keep it shut until the seed begins to come 

 up. Then from this on give plenty of 



