96 PIGTOBIAL PBAGTIOAL VEGETABLE QBOWINQ. 



Cbapter 17— Cucumbers. 



The succulent and seductive Cucumber, Cucumis sativa, has no pre- 

 tensions to nutritive value. There is only one honest reason for 

 eating it, and that is because you like it. It is indigestible, and 

 therefore a terror to all who have weak stomachs. It is nearly all 

 water, and consequently has little sustenance in its enticing anatomy. 

 With the exception of sugar, which is present in the proportion of 

 about two per cent., its nutritive elements are represented by 

 insignificant fractions. 



In spite of these facts, which ought to be damaging, but are not, 

 for the reason that people ignore them. Cucumbers are devoured 

 by the million, and will be to the end of the chapter. We are 

 told that Cucumbers are the most difficult to digest when thinly 

 sliced and served in vinegar, and that they are not so bad if cut up 

 in chunks. Unfortunately, it is in the first way that they are most 

 appetising. 



Happily for the Cucumber lover, there is a wide range of 

 varieties, and the man with no pit or frame can select a sort which 

 will thrive out of doors. 



There is just one little initial difficulty to those who have no glass, 

 and that is starting the plants. A temperature of 65^ to 70® is 

 desirable for raising the stock. If there is no chance of securing 

 bottom heat, or a warm house, perhaps a friend better situated will 

 lend a hand, or plants may be bought. 



Unless Cucumber seeds are quite plump, they should never be 

 sown until they have been subjected to a steady pressure with the 

 finger tip while lying on a board. If they are hollow, and therefore 

 worthless, they will at once crackle and collapse. The pointed end 

 of the seed may be placed uppermost. It is a common and good 

 plan to place each seed in the centre of a 3- or 4-inch pot, then there 

 is no fear of the plants becoming crowded. 



If the plants are to be grown under the roof of a pit or other 

 house they should not be stopped when young, but allowed to go 

 ahead, and staked. Eiclges of soil should be made for them, about 

 2 feet apart, and the compost should be rough and lumpy, and finely 

 pulverised. Three parts of turfy loam and 1 part of decayed manure 

 will grow Cucumbers well ; so will the loam with a pint of super- 

 Xjhosphate or bone meal to each bushel of it. 



It is not wise to make large ridges at first, as there is a danger of 

 a considerable bulk of soil becoming sour before it is well occupied 

 by roots. Half a peck, or a little more, is enough to start with, and 

 more can be added as the roots show. The plants should be ready 

 for putting out when they are about 1 foot high, and they ought to 

 be stout in the stem and close-jointed. 



