CUCUMBER 



269 



violently, when it should be turned 

 over again, taking care to mix the 

 litter thoroughly, adding more water 

 if required. A week or so later it 

 will want another turning, which as 

 a rule ought to be sufficient to bring 

 it into a fit condition for making up 

 into a bed, even though it be heating 

 strongly, for the temperature will 

 subside a good deal after the mate- 

 rials are well trodden down. Where 

 the hot-bed is the only accommoda- 

 tion, the seed, of course, cannot be 

 sown till the bed is ready; but where 

 there is a hothouse or pit, it is by 

 far the best to sow the seed about 

 the time the first preparations are 

 made for making the bed; and when 

 the bed is ready the plants will be 

 strong and fit for planting. The 

 seed may be sown in small pots, well 

 drained, and the seeds covered with 

 about 5 in. of fine soil, and the pots, 

 if possible, plunged in a bottom heat 

 of 75° or 80°, with a moist atmo- 

 spheric heat of from 65"^ to 70° at 

 night, and 75° to 80° by day. The 

 seeds should not be watered for a 

 day or two after planting, when they 

 should be well soaked ; and from 

 this time forward the soil about the 

 roots of the plants should never be 

 allowed to get dry, nor wet enough 

 to become sour. When the plants 

 are up they should be placed 

 near the glass, to keep them 

 strong and stocky, and should be 

 planted out before they become 

 pot-bound. 



In preparing the bed for planting, 

 the bottom of the frame should be 

 covered with turves, grassy side 

 downwards ; on the top of these lay 

 a ridge of soil the whole length of 

 the frame. This should afterwards 

 be levelled up, as the plants root out 

 in both directions. Frequent soil- 

 ings are an evil in hot-bed culture, 

 for such operations cannot be per- 

 formed without disarranging the 



foliage and injuring the plants. The 

 bed being prepared, and presuming 

 the bottom heat to have subsided to 

 about 75° or 80°, the plants should 

 be planted, one in the centre of 

 each light. If not done before, they 

 should at the same time have their 

 tops pinched off above the second 

 or third leaf. After planting, with 

 the assistance of linings, in the shape 

 of stable litter and a careful economi- 

 sation of sun-heat, the bottom heat 

 may be kept at 70° at least, and the 

 top heat at 70° at night, and 80° or 

 85° with sun. In very bright weather 

 a shading of thin canvas should be 

 rolled over the frame during the 

 hottest part of the day, but shading 

 should not be resorted to more than 

 can be helped. Air must be admitted 

 at all times, and even in severe 

 weather the sashes should be raised 

 the thickness of a label to let the 

 steam escape. The bed should be 

 kept moist, but not sodden, and the 

 plants should be sprinkled every 

 afternoon in bright weather with 

 soft, clean, tepid water. Under this 

 treatment they will soon start into 

 growth by sending out two strong 

 leaders below where they were 

 pinched. One should be trained 

 towards the back of the frame and 

 the other towards the front, and 

 when they have come within about 

 I ft. of the sides of the frame they 

 should be pinched again, which will 

 cause them to throw out laterals, 

 showing fruit in all probability, 

 which, with the exception of three 

 or four on each limb, should be 

 picked off and the laterals stopped 

 one joint beyond the fruit. If the 

 foliage be large and vigorous, it will 

 perhaps be found advantageous to 

 cut out some of the laterals alto- 

 gether. It is much better to thin 

 out the foliage and wood frequently 

 than to let the plants get over- 

 crowded, and then cut out a great 



