THE CUCUMBER. 



665 



foliage; but this latter is seldom required, as 

 the atmosphere is kept sufficiently moist with- 

 out; and were it otherwise, it would be better 

 to throw the water upon the walls or floor to 

 increase evaporation. Air is given as abun- 

 dantly as the state of the weather will admit of, 

 and where it can be brought in through the 

 front wall, so as to blow upon the pipes, to raise 

 its temperature before reaching the plants, so 

 much the better. Air is a most important ele- 

 ment in winter-forcing, a deficiency of it, next 

 to a want of heat and light, the greatest of all 

 evils ; and it is in a great degree to the abun- 

 dance of air and greater amount of light that 

 cucumbers and melons enjoy in our modern 

 structures over those low, dark, ill-ventilated 

 pits or frames in former use, that our present 

 success is due. During severe frosts, the aper- 

 tures for the admission of air should be some- 

 what contracted, as the great difference between 

 the external and internal temperatures causes a 

 rapid circulation, as the cold air forces its way 

 through every creek or cranny; for however 

 tight the glass roofs may be made, still there 

 are ways and means by which cold air will find 

 its way in, and more so during very low tem- 

 peratures, as the pressure from without becomes 

 greater. 



In former times, great importance was at- 

 tached to the process of fertilising the female 

 flowers. When seed is the object of culture, 

 this no doubt is a very indispensable matter; 

 but as it happens that cucumbers are prized 

 more when devoid of seed than when they are 

 full of them, the process has become question- 

 able, particularly in the case of winter-grown 

 fruit, or that produced by early forcing. This 

 opinion is entertained by Mr W. P. Ayres, who, 

 in his " Treatise on the Cucumber," p. 16, en- 

 tirely dissents from the practice, which he de- 

 clares to be not only unnecessary, but even 

 injurious. "It is well known," he says, "that 

 cucumbers having seed in them are much less 

 valued than those which have not; and hence 

 the long-growing kinds, which seldom produce 

 seed even for their own propagation, are pre- 

 ferred." He offers the following reasons on this 

 subject : " For my part, I am disposed to think, 

 where long fruit is desired, impregnation is 

 positively injurious, because, if seeds are the 

 result of impregnation, the energy of the plant 

 will be expended in perfecting the seed, instead 

 of in the production of the fruit, as every prac- 

 tical man knows that the production of one 

 seed from it will weaken the plant more than a 

 dozen of fruit fit for the table." Cucumbers 

 having seed in them are more apt to become 

 crooked and deformed than those which have 

 none, particularly such as have a few seeds 

 formed near their lower ends. In the case of 

 the melon it is different, as its fruit is useless 

 until it has become fully ripened ; and to acquire 

 that maturity, it is necessary that it should be 

 perfect in all respects, and this it would not be 

 were seed awanting. The melon does not set 

 its fruit with the same freedom as the cucumber; 

 and hence impregnation is a necessary opera- 

 tion, either naturally or artificially. The cucum- 

 ber, on the other hand, is useless for the pur- 



poses for which it is grown when it arrives at 

 anything near its state of ripeness, and is most 

 fit for use, comparatively speaking, when it is 

 only a few days old. 



Much of the success attending the production 

 of the melon and cucumber depends on the 

 structure in which they are grown: for ourselves, 

 we greatly prefer large span-roofed pits or 

 houses, training the plants all over the roof in 

 the manner of vines; and such pits or houses, 

 when so occupied, have a very novel and inter- 

 esting appearance. The fruit also is produced 

 in far greater perfection, and the plants will not 

 only bear more profusely, but will continue a 

 much greater length of time in a bearing state, 

 which is, no doubt, owing to the greater circu- 

 lation of air and exposure to light than when 

 grown in pits in the usual manner. 



The practice of Mr Cuthill, one of the most 

 successful growers for the London market, is 

 deserving of imitation, and is within the reach 

 of every one having no more accommodation 

 than a three-light cucumber pit or frame; we 

 will give the substance of his practice, which is 

 equally applicable during winter to pits or houses 

 of the largest size. The seed of the cucumber 

 is sown in a small pit sufficiently heated in pans 

 2 inches deep, the seed being previously steeped 

 twenty-four hours in tepid water. When the 

 cotyledon or seed-leaves have separated, the 

 plants are potted off into 4-inch pots. Two 

 plants are put into each pot, and no water is 

 given for three or four days, in order to prevent 

 the stems from damping off. " Air is given day 

 and night at the back of the pits, and the heat is 

 kept up at night to 65°, and by day to 70°. The 

 plants are shifted round every three or four days, 

 and are watered, when required, with soft tepid 

 water. As the plants only remain in the seed- 

 bed," which, in small establishments, may be a 

 one-light box, or in default of this they may be 

 reared in the pit in which they are afterwards 

 to be grown, " for about three weeks, the larger 

 pit should be prepared for their reception by 

 the expiration of that time. This is effected by 

 lime- washing their insides for the destruction of 

 insects, &c. ; the hot-water pipes which traverse 

 the middle of each pit at the bottom, for bottom 

 heat, are covered with a layer of oak faggots, 

 putting some rough dung or straw over them to 

 keep the mould from mixing with the faggots. 

 The mould, rough from the fields, is put in so 

 as to form a ridge in the centre of the pit to the 

 depth of 16 inches, leaving the top of the mould 

 about 2 feet from the trellis. The fire is lighted 

 at least six days before the plants are put 

 out, there being forty-eight lights to one fire, 

 consequently much cold water and mould to 

 heat. As soon as the mould is heated through, 

 the plants are planted out immediately under 

 the centre of each light, inserting them in the 

 mould up to the seed-leaf, and placing a stick 

 to each plant reaching the trellis. The latter is 

 formed by a strong stick under each rafter, and 

 by hazel rods about 4 feet long placed 5 or 6 

 inches apart." In such pits we screw iron studs 

 12 inches long into the rafters, and by running 

 twine through their eyes construct a convenient 

 trellis, creating less shade, and capable of being 



