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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
February  18,  189?. 
serious  failures  with  Cucumber#  among  market  growers  have 
brought  the  eelworm  into  prominence.  If  my  experience  is 
any  criterion  we  have  largely  to  thank  ourselves  for  the  mischief 
that  befalls  our  plants.  Correct  methods  of  cultivation  I  believe 
to  be  the  best  preventives.  On  the  score  of  economy  in  construction 
market  grower#  have  been  tempted  to  grow  Cucumbers  in  houses 
not  sufficiently  well  heated,  bottom-heat  pipes  in  particular  being 
conspicuous  by  their  absence.  The  plants  may  grow  remarkably 
well  for  a  time  in  little  mounds  of  compost  resting  on  the  solid 
ground  ;  but  once  let  the  treatment  be  of  a  nature  to  militate 
against  good  surface-root  action  and  it  will  be  a  case  of  good-bye 
to  the  plants.  When  plants  in  full  bearing  order  fail  by  the  dozen 
or  score  eelworm  or  some  other  dire  complaint  is  credited  with 
the  cause.  Let  experts  once  get  hold  of  the  stems  and  roots  and 
they  are  certain  to  find  something  very  bad  with  a  high-sounding 
name.  The  enemies  they  see  are  of  course  there,  and  the  savants 
make  the  most  of  them  and — themselves  ;  but  the  pests  are  more 
the  effect  than  the  cause  of  the  collapse  after  all. 
Private  gardeners  frequently  start  their  Cucumber  plants  on 
hotbeds  of  manure  or  manure  and  leaves.  While  the  fermenta¬ 
tion  continues  the  plants  are  in  a  happy  thrifty  state.  Unfortu¬ 
nately  heat  and  moi»ture  soon  lead  to  the  heating  material 
becoming  rotten,  and  then,  if  there  are  no  bottom-heat  pipes,  it 
is  not  long  before  some  or  all  of  the  plants  commence  flagging 
seriously  in  the  sunshine.  The  eelworm  is  then  in  the  ascendant. 
It  has  been  invited,  and  has  accepted  the  invitation.  The  same 
thing  happens  when  heavy  masses  of  rich  retentive  soil  are  provided 
for  the  plants  to  root  in,  or  worse  still,  banked  heavily  over  the 
old  soil  by  way  of  a  top-dressing — sometimes  in  the  case  of 
plants  grown  in  frames  when  the  bottom  heat  fail#. 
The  other  extreme — too  much  heat  and  too  little  moisture  at 
the  roots — must  also  end  fatally  to  Cucumber  plants,  especially  as 
treated  by  some  market  growers  who  have  not  had  sufficient 
experience  in  the  “  express  system.”  It  would  really  appear  that 
the  eelworms  are  present  in  most  soils  that  may  be  prepared  for 
Cucumbers,  and  are  only  waiting  for  a  check  to  the  growth  to  be 
given  before  asserting  their  destructive  power.  If  by  good  culture 
healthy  root  action  is  sustained  it  i#  not  much  harm  that  this 
minute  pest  can  work.  This  dictum  may  not  commend  itself  to 
some  of  my  readers,  but  first  let  them  see  whether  the  treatment 
that  failed  in  their  case  corresponds  in  the  more  important  points 
with  what  I  am  about  to  advance  as  being  nearly  or  quite  the 
correct  practice. 
Cucumbers  are  essentially  heat-loving  plant#,  therefore  provide 
sufficient  fire  heat  to  maintain  a  temperature  that  seldom  if  ever 
falls  below  65°  during  the  night,  with  an  increase  of  5°  to  10°  by  day 
from  fire  heat  in  the  early  spring  months,  while  the  bottom  heat 
ought  to  be  nearly  or  quite  as  strong.  Instead  of  planting  healthy 
young  plants  on  the  top  of  a  great  mass  of  soil,  insert  them  deeply, 
yet  carefully,  burying  2  inches  of  the  stem  in  about  a  peck  of  soil 
previously  well  warmed  through.  What  kind  of  compost  ought  to 
be  used  is  a  question  that  would  quickly  occur  were  I  to  omit  all 
description  of  what  answers  well  with  me.  In  anticipation  I 
reply,  Nothing  very  particular.  If  “  good  brown  fibrous  loam,” 
which  we  hear  so  much  about,  and  which  so  few  of  us  can  obtain, 
be  available,  by  all  means  use  it,  breaking  it  up  roughly,  adding 
only  a  little  manure.  Some  growers  stack  their  turves  with  farm¬ 
yard  or  stable  manure  sandwiched  between.  They  may  do  so  for 
Uught  that  I  care,  but  give  me  fresh  soil  stacked  only  long  enough 
to  kill  the  grass,  and  nearly  fresh  manure. 
A#  it  happens,  we  can  only  procure  turf  of  a  black,  spongy, 
water-holding  nature,  and  much  prefer  sandy  medium  loam,  or  a 
natural  blend  of  clay  and  loam  in  equal  parts,  without  any  fibre  in 
it,  and  as  “  poor  as  a  crow.”  To  two  part#  of  this  are  added  one  part 
of  horse  droppings,  prepared  as  for  a  Mushroom  bed,  with  a  liberal 
addition  of  wood  ashes  and  scorched  soil.  This  is  good  enough  to 
plant  in,  and  with  a  “peppering”  of  soot  good  enough  for  the 
subsequent  top-dressings.  Doubtless  eelworms  are  introduced  with 
either  the  manure  or  soil,  but  it  depends  on  ourselves  whether 
they  shall  prosper  or  not.  What  we  have  to  remember  is  that 
Cucumber  plants  growing  in  strong  heat  mu#t  evaporate  large 
quantities  of  moi«ture,  and  unless  roots  are  constantly  and  rapidly 
increasing,  of  what  avail  are  the  heavy  #upplies  of  water?  On 
the  other  hand,  sometimes  the  cultivator  forgets  to  supply  abund¬ 
ance  of  water  to  the  roots,  or  not  enough  to  keep  them  alive,  let 
alone  meet  the  requirement#  of  the  foliage,  then  the  eelworms  are 
happy. 
Cucumber  roots  delight  in  a  moi#t  warm  atmosphere,  and  should 
be  kept  active  well  within  the  reach  of  it.  That  is  a  good  reason 
for  starting  with  a  small  mound  of  porous  soil.  As  fast  as  the 
roots  take  possession  of  the  old  soil  top-dress  lightly  with  some 
fresh  compost,  once  a  week  not  being  too  often  to  give  these  light 
surfacings.  If  the  soil  is  not  unduly  exposed  to  the  sunshine  nor 
allowed  to  become  too  dry  the  whole  mass  is  soon  taken  possession 
of  by  a  network  of  root  fibres,  and  eelworms  make  no  progress. 
During  hot  weather  once  a  day  is  not  often  enough  to  give  water, 
but  the  plants  shouid  have  it  twice,  if  not  three  times,  also  keeping 
the  atmosphere  nearly  saturated.  Heavily  cropped  plants  should 
be  assisted  with  clear  soot  water,  varied  with  nitrate  of  soda 
applied  at  the  rate  of  half  an  ounce  dissolved  in  one  gallon  of 
water.  We  use  it  ready  dissolved,  measuring  the  liquid  that  is 
added  to  each  can  of  water  with  a  handy  tin  ladle.  Anything  that 
clogs  the  #urface  of  the  soil,  including  thick  #oot  water,  does  more 
harm  than  good. 
Many  gardeners  pride  themselves  in  keeping  their  plants  in  a 
healthy  bearing  state  for  the  greater  part  of  the  sea#on.  It  would 
be  less  trouble  and  more  satisfactory  in  the  end  if  they  adopted 
the  market  growers’  plan  of  getting  all  they  can  out  of  their  plants 
in  a  few  weeks,  and  then  start  afresh.  A  succes#ion  could  easily 
be  kept  up  by  commencing  with  one-third  less  plants  than  formerly, 
making  successional  sowings  and  plantings  at  intervals  of  about  a 
month.  Plant  at  2  feet  apart,  run  the  plants  up  quickly,  crop 
heavily  from  the  lateral  growths,  leaving  no  fruit  on  the  main 
stem#,  and  if  grown  quickly  the  produce  will  be  of  superior 
quality  to  that  usually  obtained  from  worn-out  old  plants.  There 
is  not  much  time  for  eelworms  to  do  much  mischief  under  that 
system. 
Now  we  are  come  to  the  phenyle  business.  Little’s  soluble 
phenyle  was  first  suggested  in  these  pages  (by  Mr.  Abbey,  I  believe) 
as  a  possible  remedy  for  eelworm.  After  giving  it  a  fair  trial  I 
can  honestly  affirm  that  it  does  check  the  progress  of  eelworms, 
and  I  keep  a  tin  or  small  drum  of  it  alway#  at  hand  in  case  it  is 
wanted.  When  important  work  has  to  be  entrusted  to  careless 
youths  it  is  apt  to  be  scamped.  Our  Cucumbers  sometimes 
apparently  get  enough  water,  but  only  the  surface  is  moistened 
while  the  soil  underneath  may  be  as  dry  as  powder.  That  is  the 
eelworms’  opportunity.  Anyway,  whenever  any  of  our  plants 
commence  to  flag  from  no  apparent  cause  an  examination  of  the 
roots  usually  discloses  the  fact  that  eelworms  have  gained  the  upper 
hand,  and  knobs  on  the  roots  are  plentiful.  Thoroughly  moistening 
with  clear  water  is  not  enough,  but  if  followed  by  a  dose  of 
phenyle  applied  at  the  rate  of  1  pint  to  18  or  20  gallons  of  water, 
the  majority,  if  not  all  of  the  affected  plants,  will  regain  their 
rigidity,  and  quickly  make  good  growth  both  below  and  above 
the  soil.  We  do  not  wait  till  the  plants  are  half  dead  before 
applying  phenyle  to  the  roots,  but  commence  with  it  on  the  least 
signs  of  flagging. 
Last  season,  in  order  to  thoroughly  test  the  value  of  phenyle,  we 
used  the  soil  in  a  Cucumber  house  a  second  time,  well  knowing 
that  eelworms  were  numerous  in  it.  It  was  given  a  soaking  of 
phenyle  rather  stronger  than  I  have  recommended  for  the  growing 
plants,  and  “  livened  up  ”  with  a  little  fresh  soil  and  manure. 
Considering  the  lateness  of  the  season,  the  result  was  most  satis¬ 
factory,  the  phenyle  having  done  good  service,  both  as  a  manure 
and  insecticide.  This  is  enough  at  once,  Tomatoes  another  time. — 
W.  Iggulden. 
