February 12, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
125 
space than the size of the frame, the material should be well 
mixed and beaten into the bed, from 4 feet G inches to 5 feet at 
the front, and 5 feet to 5 feet 6 inches at the back, early in the 
year, while later in the season the bed may be made much 
thinner, say 3 feet thick at the front to 3 feet 6 inches at the 
back. When the bed has commenced heating, a layer of soil 
may be placed on the manure 4 or 5 inches thick. The com¬ 
post for early Cucumbers should be equal parts of light fibrous 
loam and sweet sandy peat, while later Cucumbers may be 
grown in any good turfy loam. I have found the roots to 
extend very freely in fresh hops from a brewery mixed in the 
soil. When the bed has been made about ten days or a fortnight 
it should be tested with a stick or thermometer, and if the heat 
is from 75° to 80°, the plants may be placed out in the centre of 
each light if the space is limited, but if they are of a good 
width and length two plants may be put in each, equidistant 
from each other and the sides of the frame. They should be 
planted on a raised heap of the soil, and as the roots appear 
more of the compost should be drawn up to them. 
As soon as the plants have made the second rough leaf they may 
be stopped at that joint, and as other shoots are formed these 
should be pegged down and stopped at every second joint, care 
being taken that the shoots are trained to equally cover the bed. 
As the fruit is formed it can be trained straight in g’ass tubes 
blown for the purpose, or where this is not required they can be 
allowed to grow naturally, but in very hot weather they are apt 
to curl. I remember reading a number of years ago that female 
blooms were more apt to form in a low temperature, and male 
blooms in a high temperature, and my experience with that of 
the gardener whom i was then under abundantly confirmed this. 
Shading from the mid-day sun should always be attended to in 
very hot weather, and must be given from ten or eleven in the fore¬ 
noon until two or three in the afternoon according to the season. 
Ventilation must be carefully attended to, the object being to keep 
the temperature from rising too high rather than lowering it by 
the sudden inrush of cold air. The temperature at which the 
frame should be kept is from 70° to 75° at night, and 75° to 80° 
by day, and it may be raised to 85° or 90° by sun heat, care 
being taken to afford shade. In the early part of the year the 
lights must be covered at night with a good covering of mats 
or frames thatched with straw to keep out the cold, and the sides 
of the bed are best protected with long hay or straw for the same 
purpose. Nothing more is required but lining the beds with fresh 
materials to prevent the heat becoming too low ; the two sides of 
the bed may be lined at one time, and the back and front at 
another. 
Many gardeners who have pits at command grow the Cucumber 
by means of hot-water pipes under the bed, and some have pits 
heated by Hues under the bed, but those heated by hot water are 
much better. The pipes or flues should be so arranged that an 
equal heat of 70° to 75" can be kept under the bed, and a top heat 
of from 75° to 80°. The p’ants must not be stopped, but 
trained to a stick until they reach the trellis, they may then be 
stopped and trained the same way as those grown in frames. 
The frames or pits must always have the atmosphere moist, as 
there is nothing so injurious to the growth of the Cucumber as 
dry air. The frames and pits may be closed in the afternoon at 
a temperature of 80°, and the plants in the frames can be 
moistened with a fine rose, while those in the pits may have a 
gentle syringing, care being taken that the water used is of the 
same temperature as the air in the pits or frames. 
The Cucumber is liable to few diseases if kept in a vigorous 
growing state, and it is generally neglect, or want of proper heat 
and materials, that causes disease to attack them. Gumming 
and canker are generally caused by a deficiency of heat in the 
beds and the too free application of water, especially when the 
water is cold. This may be checked by increasing the tempe¬ 
rature and having a drier atmosphere in the frame or pit, while 
dusting the parts affected with powdered charcoal has often been 
found to check it. When Cucumbers have a bitter taste it is 
caused by being grown in too low a temperature, as the sap is 
not sufficiently elaborated when they are so grown. Mildew is 
chiedy caused by a too dry atmosphere; this can be checked by 
increasing the moisture and dusting the leaves with sulphur, but 
it rarely occurs where syringing is practised. 
One of the pests that infest the Cucumber is the red spider. 
This can be destroyed by sulphur in the form of vapour, but that 
needs much care, and frequent syringing with water mixed with 
sulphur is the safer remedy. Green fly often is found on the 
plants, but it can be destroyed by one or two thorough 
fumigations. 
The standard of merit as a guide for those growing Cucum¬ 
bers for exhibition is—Length from 12 inches upwards; dia¬ 
meter about one-ninth of the length; colour a deep green; 
circumference circular and even throughout; length of neck and 
nose about the measurement of the diameter; Hesli firm, crisp, 
and juicy, and the flower remaining on the fruit. A few of the 
best varieties which 1 have grown are — Duke of Edinburgh, 
Kirklees Hall, Pearson’s Long Gun, Sion House Improved, 
Pearson’s Improved Telegraph, Tender and True, and Blue 
Gown, and the one among them which I prefer for general 
purposes is Improved Telegraph. The general rules to be 
followed in growing the Cucumber are—a genial bottom heat, 
plenty of moisture, and a sweet soil. 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS FOR BEGINNERS. 
Now that Chrysanthemums are so popular a few hints for 
beginners on their cultivation may not be out of place. 
1 am afraid that the propagation of the Chrysanthemum is 
n«t sufficiently understood by many who would like to grow it 
well. Striking the cuttings is an important item in their growth. 
A common idea is that they require bottom heat. This is quite 
a mistake, as the application of heat at this stage tends to 
weaken the after growth of the plants. The great point to bear 
in mind through the various stages of growth is that they should 
be grown as sturdily as possible, never exciting them so as to 
draw them up unduly, particu'arly in the early stages. The best 
of all places to strike them in is under handlights placed in a 
house having a temperature of from 40° to 50°, failing this con¬ 
venience a cold frame is suitable. My reason for preferring a 
cool house to a cold frame is that much time is often lost when 
they have to be struck in a frame through severe weather. I 
have seen them frozen hard in the pots for a fortnight. This 
will not kill them, but while they are under this process they are 
not making roots, and of course must be losing time, and if 
they are protected from frost they must be covered, sometimes 
several days, which renders them liable to suffer from damp; 
certainly they are more checked in this position than if they 
were inside a house where light would never be obstructed. 
Any time during January or early in the present month is a 
good time to commence inserting the cuttings, which should be 
carefully chosen, those springing from the roots at some distance 
from the stem, commonly called suckers, are the best. Those 
taken direct from the stem are apt to show bloom buds during 
April, and seldom do any good after at that early stage. Thus 
stout sucker cuttings 2 to 3 inches long, taken as directed, are 
the best, these being inserted singly in pots 24 inches in diameter, 
using loam and leaf soil and silver sand in equal quantities, with 
the addition of a little sand placed on the surface. Insert them 
firmly in the soil, give a good watering to settle the soil around 
them, when they will require very little more water until rooted. 
If handlights are used place a layer of coal ashes for the pots to 
stand upon, this tends to keep them sufficiently moist and cool. 
Until roots are formed the lights must be kept closed daily, with 
the exception that they be taken off for an hour in the morning 
to evaporate condensed moisture. Shading will not be required. 
1 n from a month to six weeks they will be rooted, and we should 
then admit a little air daily, increasing the supply until the lights 
can be taken off. They should then be placed on shelves near 
the glass to prevent their becoming weakly. At this stage do 
not allow the soil to become dry. In about two months they will 
be ready for their first shift into 60-sized pots or 48’s, using a 
light open compost of loam and leaf soil in about equal parts, 
with a free admixture of silver sand and charcoal. Pot firmly 
and return to the shelf, admitting air freely to induce sturdy 
growth. As soon as they have taken to the new soil they should 
be moved to a co'd frame and be placed on a hard bottom of coal 
ashes. The lights may be drawn off entirely when the weather 
is favourable. 
At this stage it must be determined what system they are to 
be grown under, whether for large blooms, bush plants, or dwarf 
plants for cutting down, or as some term them, naturally grown 
plants; I mean by this latter term those grown from one stem 
and allowed to bloom as they may in quantity. For the amateur 
or beginner the bush system is a good way, for by that means a 
quantity of blooms can be had which make a good show, and are 
more easily housed than the tall plants as grown on the large- 
bloom principle. The point of the plant must be pinched out to 
induce side shoots to form, and when these are about 4 inches 
long they should again be pinched, and by the time these break 
there will be about eight stems to each plant, which, if allowed 
to grow, will make a handsome plant and produce a great 
quantity of blooms, either for cutting or home decoration. I f 
large blooms are preferred pinch the point out of the plantfe 
when about 6 inches high, and when they break select the two 
strongest shoots. This stopping of the main stem induces a 
dwarfer habit. Allow the two selected shoots to grow, and after 
