THE CUCUMBER. 



667 



more air is admitted, and at last the shoots are 

 allowed to extend from under the glasses, and 

 trained horizontally close to the ground. The 

 glasses are, however, kept over the centre of the 

 plant until they are fully established, and the 

 warmth of the weather renders their protection 

 no longer necessary. Should the branches ap- 

 pear too thin, their tops are pinched out, which 

 causes the emission of numerous others; yet 

 care must be taken that these become not too 

 crowded, so as to cause confusion and undue 

 shade. In this way the plants in good seasons 

 will continue to produce for the space of about 

 two months. Were they trained over flints, 

 slates, bricks, or other heat-absorbing bodies, no 

 doubt their productiveness would be greater, 

 and their season prolonged. The heat reflected 

 from such bodies would warm the air about the 

 plants, and keep them at the same time from being 

 in close contact with the cold ground. Temporary 

 frames covered with glasses would still further aid 

 their growth, and insure a better crop. 



The minimum temperature the cucumber will 

 bear without injury is 55°, the medium 75°, the 

 heat in the mould being 80°; but in clear sun- 

 shine, with ample ventilation, an atmospheric 

 temperature of from 80° to 90° will not be too 

 much. 



Saving seed. — For the production of cucum- 

 ber-seed a fruit or two of the earliest forced 

 crop should be left, as seed from these is found 

 to vegetate and produce fruit in much less time 

 than those that are produced later in the season, 

 and much more so than those that are grown 

 under hand-glasses or in the open air. Some 

 also attach importance to the part of the plant 

 that produces the fruit, preferring the fruit that 

 is grown nearest the root. The finest specimens 

 seldom produce seed, while inferior ones do; and 

 fruit, it is asserted, produced on the first, second, 

 or third joints, do produce seed, while in nine- 

 teen cases out of twenty, fruit produced on joints 

 beyond these limits produce no seed in the 

 higher-bred varieties, and hence seed of them is 

 often difficult to procure in the shops. This, 

 however, does not apply to the ordinary short- 

 growing sorts, which seed abundantly on all 

 parts of the plant. Some high in the cucumber 

 fancy save seed from the first good fruit set on 

 the plant. They should remain on the plant 

 until thoroughly ripened, which will be indi- 

 cated by the fruit- stalk withering, and the skin 

 of the fruit attaining its full yellow colour. 

 When cut, keep them still in a warm place 

 until they begin to decay, when the seed should 

 be scraped out of them into a vessel of water, 

 and kept there until the pulp attached to the 

 seed begins to separate from it, after which they 

 should be washed in clean water, during which 

 process the lighter and abortive seeds will float 

 on the surface, and may be thrown away. After 

 five or six days' drying in the sun they are fit 

 for packing by for future use. A good deal of 

 importance is placed on the age of both melon 

 and cucumber seed, those under two or three 

 years being apt to grow too luxuriantly, requir- 

 ing much pruning, and being less productive of 

 flowers and fruit than those of a greater age. 

 Indeed, seeds of both vegetate freely, if properly 



kept, at the end of four, six, or even twenty 

 years. For the production of melon-seed, those 

 from the finest specimens and of highest flavour 

 should be kept, and treated the same as above. 



SELECT LIST. 



Cucumbers, from their natural proneness to 

 impregnate each other when grown together, 

 are exceedingly difficult to keep true to their 

 original points of merit ; and as they are so 

 liable to sport into varieties, we need not be 

 surprised at the long lists of names with which 

 our seed-lists abound. The leading varieties in 

 present estimation are the following : — 



Cuthill's black spine, 6 to 9 inches long, 

 hardy, early, and productive. 



Early short green prickly, 4 inches ; hardy, 

 productive, and excellent for pickling ; quick in 

 coming into production. 



Early long green prickly, 7 inches ; hardy 

 and productive ; a good market sort. 



Victory of Bath, 17 in. ) Good for 



Tiley's captivation, 18 in. > general 



Tiley's phenomenon, 18 in. ) crops. 



Hunter's prolific, 18 in. ; very crisp and 

 sweet, requiring more heat than most other 

 sorts; spines white, covered with a good bloom, 

 and not apt to turn yellow at the base. 



Lord Kenyon's favourite, 12 to 18 in. long; 

 excellent for winter cultivation. 



Early green cluster, 6 in. ; hardy, prolific, 

 and comes early into bearing. It is chiefly 

 characterised by its fruit growing in clusters ; 

 well adapted for hand-glasses. 



Flannigan's, 15 inches ; a good forcing variety, 

 of upwards of thirty years' standing. 



*Browiiston's hybrid, 15 in. 



*Victory of England, 21 in., 

 excellent for early forcing. 



Kilway's victory, 18 in. 



Conqueror of the west, 1 8 to 

 20 in. 



Holm Pierpoint wonder, 18 in. 

 Snow's prize, 18 in. 



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Allen's victory of Suffolk, . m 

 24 in. 



Prize-fighter, 16 in. 



Duncan's victory, 28 in. 



* Ringleader, 15 in. 



*Pratt's hybrid, 18 in. 



*Sion House, 9 in. ; an old and 

 well-tried winter forcing variety. 

 Of this there is an improved 

 variety. 



Sussex hero, 1 8 in. 



Roman emperor, 12 to 15 in. 



Hamilton's black spine, 1 2 to 1 5 in. 



Gordon's white spine, 12 to 14 in. 



It would be to little purpose to describe 

 cucumbers further than as we have done above, 

 on account of the great uncertainty which must 

 ever exist in maintaining any one variety per- 

 fectly true for two consecutive years. No doubt, 

 if people were to cultivate only one variety in a 

 garden, there might be some chance of continu- 

 ing it true for a longer period ; but when several, 

 and often many, are grown in the same garden, 

 and often in the same house or pit, the thing 



