164  CULTURE  AND  PRODUCTION  OF  ELATERIUM. 
winter,  at  which  season  they  are  protected  from  the  frost  by 
being  covered  with  manure  and  mould.  As  it  is  found  that  the 
slightest  frost  destroys  the  plants,  it  is  necessary  to  be  very  care- 
ful in  thus  protecting  them  from  its  influence.  The  plants  thus 
raised  by  dividing  the  roots  are  afterwards  planted  out  in  ground 
highly  manured,  as  is  the  plan  of  raising  from  seed.  From  the 
above  facts  it  is  clear,  that  the  squirting  cucumber,  although  an 
annual  under  natural  conditions,  yet,  by  being  protected  during 
the  winter,  its  existence  maybe  prolonged  beyond  a  year — in- 
deed, we  have  seen  plants  which  we  have  been  informed  were 
more  than  three  years  old.  Hence,  an  annual  plant  thus  be- 
comes a  perennial.  Mr.  Arthur,  of  Mitcham,  has  also  observed 
"  that  if  the  roots  be  covered  up  during  the  winter,  the  plants 
survive  through  several  seasons  ;  and  he  has  now  some  which 
have  lived  three  or  four  years."  The  fruits  which  are  borne  by 
plants  more  than  two  years  of  age,  are,  however,  much  smaller, 
and  their  yield  of  elaterium  less  than  those  of  younger  plants ; 
hence  it  is  not  customary  to  grow  plants  for  commercial  pur- 
poses beyond  the  second  year  of  their  existence. 
The  plants  grow  most  luxuriantly  in  a  damp,  loamy  soil ;  but 
it  is  found  that  a  too  great  development  is  unfavorable  to  the 
production  of  the  fruit,  which  is  the  only  serviceable  part  of  the 
plant,  because  in  all  cases  where  the  nutritive  organs  of  a  plant 
become  highly  developed,  but  little  fruit  is  produced.  Hence  a 
moderately  dry,  loamy  soil,  which  has  been  highly  manured,  is 
that  best  adapted  for  the  growth  of  the  squirting  cucumber.  We 
are  informed  that  a  hot,  moderately  rainy  season  is  that  in  which 
the  plants  thrive  best,  and  yield  most  elaterium. 
The  plants  flower  freely  in  July  and  August,  and  towards  the 
end  of  the  latter  month,  and  the  first  two  or  three  weeks  in  Sep- 
tember, the  fruits  are  gathered  for  the  preparation  of  elaterium. 
It  is  necessary  to  gather  the  cucumbers  as  nearly  ripe  as  pos- 
sible, for  otherwise  they  will  yield  but  a  very  trifling  amount  of 
the  best  elaterium ;  but,  in  consequence  of  their  being  thus  col- 
lected in  a  comparatively  ripe  condition,  the  produce  of  many  is 
lost,  from  the  peculiar  and  well-known  tendency  of  the  fruit  to 
discharge  its  contents  when  but  slightly  touched  as  it  approaches 
ripeness.  The  common  name  of  squirting  cucumber,  as  applied 
to  this  plant,  is  thus  derived.  This  loss  of  the  juice  in  the  fields 
during  the  process  of  gathering  the  cucumbers  much  increases 
