354 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 18, 18S8. 
leaves are mixed with the dung the bed will retain a steady heat much 
longer than if it was made of dun^r alone. In making the bed it should 
he 18 inches wider than the frame all round, and about a foot or 18 inches 
higher at the back than in the front. When the bed is made of dung 
and leaves, or of dung by itself, it should be well shaken up, the sides 
made square, and the surface beaten well with a fork as the work pro¬ 
ceeds, but it should not be tramped until the last thing before the frame 
is placed on it. In making a bed with litter and spent tanner’s bark the 
sides should be built with the rough dung and the centre filled with a 
layer of barks and dung, time about, and finished in the same way as 
the bed made of dung and leaves by tramping it all over before the 
frame is put on to keep it from sinking in one place more than in 
another. When the frame is -put on the bed place a few good turves 
with the grass side down over the centre of it to keep down the strong 
heat, which, if too strong, might injure the roots of the young plants ; 
after which form small hillocks in the centre of each light with a com¬ 
position of loam and leaf mould in equal parts, and as soon as the heat of 
the soil is suitable, which may be ascertained by plunging a trial stick 
in it, the \oung plants may be placed out, two in each hillock, and sup¬ 
plied with tepid water, and the lights placed on the frame. 
The after cultivation consists in stopping and training the growths 
of the plants, watering, shading, giving air, -when the thermometer 
rises above 70°, and adding fresh soil to the bed as the plants grow, until 
the frame is filled. Some growers train the plants in the hillock, one 
to within 6 inches of the front, and the other to within 6 inches of the 
back of the frame before stopping them, while some cultivators stop 
the plants after they have made four or five leaves, which causes them 
to send out lateral shoots and come into fruiting a little sooner than 
those allowed to grow to within 6 inches of the sides before being 
stopped, but the plants are never so strong as those allowed to grow to 
near the sides of the frame. As the plants grow they should be stopped 
at one joint above the fruits, and all the male flowers and tendrils 
taken off as they appear, and one fruit only allowed to a joint, which 
should be placed in a glass tube for the purpose, if straight fruit is 
desired. When the frame is filled with stems and leaves some of the 
older ones may be thinned to allow a free circulation of air amongst 
them, and as the summer advances and the weather becomes warm 
large flower pots can be placed under each corner of the frame to allow 
the plants to grow outside. 
Cucumbers grown in a hotbed made of dung do not require so much 
water as those in a bed heated by hot-water pipes, because the dung 
decays and becomes moist, and the roots penetrate deeply into the 
bed, which is not the case in beds heated by hot-water pipes. In the 
early stage of their growth air should be admitted carefully as soon as 
the sun comes out in the morning, but not before the glass has risen to 
75”, and the frames closed early in the afternoon to husband heat, and 
the plants syringed. During very hot sunshine, when the plants are 
growing rapidly, they should be shaded for a few hours during the 
middle of the day, and in close town gardens like Cardiff Castle they 
would be all the better of a slight permanent shade made of whiting, 
lime, or buttermilk. 
HOUSE CULTURE. 
Enormous quantities of Cucumbers are now grown in the vicinity of 
all our large towns by market gardeners who make it a speciality. 
Span-roofed pits, 12 feet wide and 9 feet high, with a walk down the 
centre and beds on each side, with ventilation in the top, and heated by 
means of hot-water pipes, are specially constructed for growing them, 
so as to have fruit all the year round ; but, as a matter of fact, it does 
not pay to grow Cucumbers during the winter months. I am credibly 
informed, however, that some of the large London market establishments 
produce no less than three or four millions of Cucumbers during the 
season, which are readily disposed of in Covent Garden Market at 
remunerative prices. The highest prices, however, are obtained in the 
spring and early summer months, when salmon is plentiful. There are 
two methods adopted in growing Cucumbers in pits, the express and the 
non-express systems. The express system consists in never giving air to 
the house at any time, and the non-express system in giving air when 
the temperature rises above 70°. I have not had any experience with 
the former, and will therefore confine my remarks to the other, or usual 
way of culture adopted in this district by gardeners. 
To obtain Cucumbers in April and May the seed should be sown in 
the beginning of January in 48-sized pots and plunged in bottom heat. 
When the plants are large enough they are potted ofi into 3-inch pots 
and placed as near the glass as possible to encourage them to make a 
good sturdy growth, giving them plenty of heat and moisture. When 
they are 9 or 10 inches high they should be planted out in their perma¬ 
nent quarters at a distance of 5 feet apart. The soil should consist of 
half loam and half leaf mould, with a sprinkling of soot and wood ashes, 
all thoroughly incorporated. The pit or bed should be well drained, and 
the drainage covered with about 4 inches of good decayed manure, and 
filled to its proper height with the soil at once, and made firm by pressing 
it down all round with the feet or hands. After this strong neat stakes 
should be placed in the bed at the allotted distance and tied to the 
trellis. The plants should be planted close to the stakes, and as deep as 
the cotyledons, made firm all round, and trained to the stakes with a 
clean stem till they meet the trellis, when the lateral shoots are allowed 
to grow, which should be stopped at the first joint above the fruit, but 
the leading shoot should not be stopped until it grows to within a foot 
of the top of the trellis. After this the principal work consists in 
tying-in the shoots as they grow, stopping them, and removing old 
leaves, male flowers, and tendrils as soon as they appear. The plants 
should be encouraged to make a free growth by giving them plenty of 
liquid manure when they require it, and the house should be closed up- 
in the afternoon to husband sun heat, and the plants well syringed. 
The most destructive insects to the Cucumber are green fly and red 
spider. The former can be destroyed by fumigating with tobacco or 
tobacco paper, and the latter by washing the affected leaves as soon as it 
is noticed, and copiously syringing the plants night and morning. The 
Cucumber is subject to mildew and to a disease peculiarly its own, 
which is called “ the Cucumber disease.” The former can be destroyed 
by applying flowers of sulphur to the affected parts, but there is no¬ 
good remedy known yet for curing the latter, which is a fearful scourge 
when it enters a Cucumber plantation, either in the house, the hotbed, 
or on the outside ridges. 
I have said nothing about the varieties which are best for each ofi 
these systems. For the house and hotbed I would recommend Cardiff 
Castle, and for ridge culture a small variety called Stockwood.—- 
W. Arthur Treseder.— (Read at a meeting of the Cardiff Castle 
Gardeners' Improvement Society.') 
TREBBIANO AND WHITE TOKAY GRAPES. 
We have received two letters during the past week in which 
information is sought relative to the characteristics of these Grapes and 
the differences between them. We know of no other way in which the- 
subject can be made so clear as by citations from Mr. Barron’s work on 
Vine culture and the illustrations the author has obligingly placed at 
our disposal. 
Trebbiano. — An oval white vinous Grape. Season : late. Merits r- 
seeondrate in quality, but valuable for its handsome appearance and’ 
late-keeping properties. 
Vine .—Growth remarkably strong and robust, the young shoots being 
very thick, almost gross, but ripening freely ; they are generally coated 
with down around the buds, which are large and prominent; moderately 
fruitful. Leaves large, soft, and much covered on the under surface- 
with thick down ; deeply toothed, dying off pale yellow. 
Fruit .—Bunches of the very largest size, with broad, stroDg shoulders,, 
and thick stalks, compact and always well set. Berries, medium-siied. 
