12 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



this way the stems will be long, crisp, and blanched, thereby- 

 adding not a little to the value of this small salading. 



The Cucumber is, perhaps, the least wholesome of any kind 

 of salad vegetables, no one, to my knowledge, venturing to 

 ascribe any very good properties to it, at any rate as an article 

 of diet. In spite of its doubtful reputation the Cucumber is 

 very popular, few people accepting a certain doctor's advice, that 

 Cucumbers ought to be skinned, sliced, salted, and then thrown 

 on the rubbish heap. Fresh, quickly grown fruits only should be 

 used, over-grown or stale ones not digesting properly. 



A paper on saladings is scarcely the place to speak very fully 

 or at length on the cultivation of Cucumbers ; I shall therefore 

 content myself with offering a few brief hints only. During the 

 summer months Cucumbers can be most successfully grown in 

 pits and frames, where they are less liable to be overrun with 

 red spider and other insect pests than they are in forcing-houses. 

 The old Rollisson's Telegraph would appear to be still one of the 

 best for frame culture, but what now passes for Tender and True 

 is more robust, and is a favourite variety with many growers. 

 About the middle of April sow seeds singly in 3-inch pots, and 

 place them to germinate in a warm frame or pit, rather than in 

 a house where insect pests probably abound. At the same time 

 some stable manure should be shaken out and thrown together into 

 a heap to ferment with a view to getting rid of its rank heat and 

 foul gases. Two or three turnings are needed, each time before 

 the centre of heap attains a fierce or " white " heat. Dead leaves 

 mixed with the manure will increase the bulk and serve to 

 moderate the heat. A solid hotbed from 8 feet to 4 feet deep at 

 the back with a gentle slope to the south is required, setting the 

 frame on this and placing a layer of short manure inside. In the 

 centre of each frame-light place about ^a bushel of light loamy 

 soil, or a mixture of the best loam procurable, nearly fresh horse 

 droppings, and "burn bake." Trial stakes ought to be kept 

 plunged in the centre of the bed and drawn out, and the heat 

 tested occasionally. If they can be comfortably borne in the 

 hand the plants may be put out directly the heap of soil is well 

 warmed through ; but if the bed is violently hot, form a few deep 

 holes in it, and let out vapour at the back of the frame, planting 

 when the heat has sufficiently declined. Open out holes with 

 the hand, laying a single plant in each heap in a sloping direction, 



