62 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
January  17,  1901 
fruit,  and  to  get  which  would  seem  impossible ;  yet  when  the  warm 
showers  of  spring  descend,  the  plants  are  soon  draped  with  a  thick 
garniture  of  their  pretty  simple  flowers,  and  then  with  the  fruit.  So 
thickly  does  the  fruit  hang  on  these  ugly  sticks,  when  well  cultivated, 
that  it  may  literally  be  gathered  by  handfuls. 
On  no  account  must  the  bushes  be  deprived  of  their  leaves  in 
summer.  In  some  gardens  in  the  country  I  have  observed  a  practice 
of  cutting  back  the  shoots  with  hedge-shears,  on  the  plea  of  admitting 
light  and  air  to  the  fruit.  It  is  altogether  a  bad  practice,  and  severely 
to  be  condemned.  To  attain  the  utmost  success  in  Currant  culture, 
follow  the  practice  of  our  great  cultivators,  who  make  it  a  paying 
matter — that  practice  which  I  have  just  described.  Be  not  afraid  of 
making  the  plants  grow  too  strongly,  for  the  more  strongly  they  grow 
the  greater  the  crop  they  will  bear.  Apply  plenty  of  manure,  and 
prune  them  hard  back,  and  the  result  will  be  astonishing. — A. 
Notes  on  encumbers  and  Melons. 
The  cultivation  of  Cucumbers  has  undergone  a  great  change  during 
the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century.  At  the  middle  (1850)  pits 
or  small  houses  set  apart  for  the  production  of  Cucumbers  and  Melons 
were  the  exception  rather  than  the  rule  in  even  what  were  then  termed 
good  gardening  establishments.  I  allude  to  lean-to,  three-quarters, 
and  span-roofed  structures  heated  by  hot-water  pipes,  these  being 
employed  both  for  bottom  and  top  heat.  In  a  few  instances  the  tank 
system  was  in  vogue,  Rendle  being  the  propounder,  and  this  mode  of 
affording  bottom  heat  aud  of  maintaining  the  atmospheric  temperature 
was  regarded  as  the  most  satisfactory,  and  in  accordance  with  the 
principle  of  heating  by  fermenting  material  which  had  been  practised 
from  the  time  of  the  ancient  Romans. 
As  heating  by  flues  preceded  the  hot-water  system,  pits  were 
occasionally  met  with  having  a  flue  along  the  front  and  sometimes  at 
the  back  for  top  heat,  with  a  pit  for  holding  fermenting  materials  to 
furnish  a  good  bottom  heat  at  the  start  and  give  off  the  moisture  and 
evolve  the  ammonia  found  so  favourable  to  healthy  growth  as  to 
prejudice  cultivators  in  favour  of  heating  by  fermenting  materials. 
Some  growers  are  still  old-fashioned  enough  to  hold  that  there  is 
nothing  like  a  bed  of  fermenting  material  for  bottom  heat  and  for 
profiting  the  subjects  in  early  forcing  operations.  To  this  creed  I 
adhere,  partly  from  the  principle  of  utilising  materials  that  practically 
cost  nothing  but  the  labour  of  collecting  and  putting  to  profitable  use, 
and  mainly  on  the  ground  of  the  favourable  nature  of  the  procedure. 
But  the  requirements  of  the  advanced  age — that  of  Cucumbers  all 
the  year  round — could  not  be  met  with  certainty  by  the  sole  employment 
of  fermenting  material,  hence  recourse  to,  at  first,  auxiliary  aid  from 
flues,  and  afterwards  from  hot- water  pipes.  The  latter  system  of  heating 
has,  in  many  establishments,  entirely  superseded  fermenting  material 
and  flues,  and  in  not  a  few  instances,  especially  marketing  establishments, 
bottom  heat  has  been  entirely  dispensed  with.  Nevertheless,  there  are 
still  some  places  where  both  Cucumbers  and  Melons  are  grown,  and  that 
very  successfully,  in  pits  and  frames  heated  absolutely  by  fermenting 
materials,  hence  a  few  notes  thereon  will  be  seasonable. 
Raising  Cucumbers  in  Frames. 
Most  people  make  a  point  of  having  fruit  by  Easter.  The  weather 
has  much  to  do  with  producing  Cucumbers  early,  and  the  means  at 
command  often  make  all  the  difference  between  one  gardener  having 
them  by  a  given  time  and  another  not.  The  starting  period  has 
something  to  do  with  matters  of  this  kind,  but  there  is  little  gained  in 
time,  and  certainly  much  expended  in  labour  and  material,  by 
commencing  very  early.  Indeed,  I  have  found  that  early  February  is  a 
good  time  to  start  seeds  for  raising  plants  to  fruit  from  April  onwards. 
The  material  for  making  up  the  bed  being  collected,  two  parts  leaves 
and  one  part  stable  litter  should  be  thrown  together  in  a  heap, 
moistening  if  necessary,  and  when  warm  turning  outside  to  inside, 
again  sprinkling  with  water  if  any  parts  are  too  dry,  will  part  with 
rank  steam  and  induce  a  sweet,  regular  heat.  A  site  for  a  bed  should 
be  chosen  with  a  full  south  exposure,  and  having  shelter  to  the  north, 
as  that  of  a  hedge  or  wall.  In  forming  the  bed  beat  the  materials  well 
down  with  the  fork  as  the  work  proceeds,  and  a  few  pea  sticks  placed 
across  and  along  the  bed  at  intervals  not  only  prevent  overheating  but 
admit  heat  from  linings  being  conveyed  to  the  interior  of  the  bed.  For 
early  work  frames  with  double  sides  are  preferable.  In  about  a  week  from 
making  the  bed  the  heat  will  be  up.  Level  the  bed,  replace  the  box, 
apply  sufficient  sweetened  material  to  raise  the  inside  to  within  2  or 
3  inches  of  the  top  of  the  inner  frame  or  cavity,  placing  apparently  dry 
leaf  soil  or  spent  tan  for  plunging  the  pots  in.  To  raise  the  plants  half 
fill  3-inch  pots  with  rich  light  loam,  placing  one  seed  in  the  centre  of 
each  pot,  covering  about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  deep  with  fine,  moist 
soil,  so  that  no  water  is  required  for  the  germination  of  the  seed. 
Space  is  thus  left  in  the  pots  for  top-dressing,  which  is  preferable  to 
potting  the  seedlings.  Cover  the  pots  with  a  square  of  glass,  which 
hastens  the  germination,  but  remove  it  as  soon  as  the  plants  appear. 
The  plants  from  a  sowing  made  early  in  February  will  be  fit  to  plant 
out  early  in  March. 
Cucumbers  in  Houses. 
Young  plants  from  seed  sown  at  the  beginning  of  the  month  should 
be  top-dressed  and  be  transferred  to  larger  pots  as  they  require  more 
root-room,  keeping  near  the  glass,  putting  a  stick  to  those  required  for 
trelliswork,  and  removing  the  side  growths  or  laterals  as  they  appear 
up  the  height  of  stem  required  to  reach  the  trellis.  The  soil  should 
consist  of  medium  textured  fibrous  loam,  with  a  fifth  of  thoroughly 
reduced  manure,  and  a  little  charcoal  to  keep  the  compost  open  and 
sweet.  If  a  sprinkling  of  air-slaked  lime  and  soot  in  equal  parts  be 
mixed  with  the  soil  it  will  be  advantageous.  The  house  for  the  plants 
to  fruit  in  should  be  thoroughly  cleansed,  the  woodwork  with  soap 
and  water,  glass  with  clear  water  only,  both  inside  and  outside,  and 
wash  the  brickwork  with  hot  lime.  If  there  has  been  any  eelworm 
scald  the  bedwalls  or  wooden  troughs  with  boiling  water,  and  the 
bottom  must  be  well  soaked  with  it.  Place  the  soil  for  the  plants  in 
a  ridge,  flattened  at  the  top,  and  about  10  inches  deep,  aud  when 
warmed  through  turn  a  plant  out  in  the  centre  of  each  light,  or  about 
3  feet  apart.  Secure  the  stick  to  the  bottom  wire,  and  rub  off  the 
laterals  up  to  the  trellis.  Maintain  a  night  temperature  of  65°  to  70°, 
70°  to  75°  by  day,  advancing  to  85°  or  90°  from  sun  heat,  keeping  the 
bottom  heat  at  80°  to  85°. 
To  maintain  steady  progress  in  the  winter-fruiting  plants  and  secure 
straight  fruit,  the  temperature  should  be  maintained  at  65°  at  night, 
5°  more  in  mild,  and  5°  less  in  severe  weather,  70°  to  75°  by  day, 
advancing  to  80°,  85°  or  903  from  sun  heat.  When  the  external  air  is 
mild  a  little  ventilation  may  be  given  at  80°,  closing  before  the 
temperature  is  reduced  below  that  degree,  but  it  is  better  to  close  so 
as  to  secure  90°  to  95°  in  the  early  afternoon,  and  at  all  times  exclude 
external  cold  air,  which  induces  stunted  and  curled  fruit.  Young  plants 
coming  into  bearing  must  not  be  cropped  too  heavily,  giving  them  all 
the  assistance  possible  by  removing  the  male  flowers,  also  surplus  female 
blossoms  as  they  appear.  Plants  in  bearing  will  require  to  be  examined 
about  twice  a  week,  removing  all  weakly  and  exhausted  growths, 
reserving  as  much  of  the  young  bearing  wood  as  is  necessary  for  filling 
the  allotted  space,  stopping  the  shoots  at  one  or  two  joints  beyond  the 
fruit. 
Let  the  root  and  atmospheric  conditions  of  moisture  be  governed 
by  the  state  of  the  soil  and  external  circumstances.  Avoid  over¬ 
watering,  and  supply  liquid  manure  when  vigour  is  needed.  Except 
on  very  fine  days  syringing  should  not  be  practised  over  the  foliage, 
a  light  sprinkling  on  fine  afternoons  being  beneficial,  but  damp 
the  floors  moderately  about  8  a.m.  and  2  p.m.,  also  in  the  evening 
if  the  surfaces  become  dry.  Encourage  the  roots  to  spread  in  the 
surface  of  the  bed  by  adding  a  little  fresh  lumpy  loam  from  time 
to  time,  and  feed  them  with  a  little  approved  fertiliser  occasionally, 
say  a  small  handful  per  square  yard.  If  there  be  any  lack  of  colour 
in  the  foliage  or  fruit  use  that  amount  of  light  dry  soot,  the  nitrogen 
and  mineral  matters  of  this  substance  encouraging  the  development  of 
the  chlorophyll.  If  aphides  appear  fumigate  on  two  consecutive 
evenings.  Dust  with  flowers  of  sulphur  on  the  first  appearance  of 
mildew  or  lightly  coat  the  hot-water  pipes  with  a  cream  formed  of  skim 
milk  and  flowers  of  sulphur  as  an  antidote  to  it,  also  for  destroying 
white  fly  and  as  inimical  to  red  spider,  and  arrest  canker  by  rubbing 
quicklime  into  the  affected  parts. 
Melons. 
Seeds  sown  early  in  the  month  have  progressed  so  that  the  plants 
are  in  second  leaf,  and  root  aotion  now  proceeds  rapidly,  therefore 
attend  to  earthing,  and  when  the  small  pots  are  occupied  with  roots 
place  the  plants  in  5-inch  pots,  always  watering  in  advance  of  shifting, 
so  that  the  roots  are  all  preserved  in  turning  out  the  plants,  and  not 
allowing  them  to  become  root-bound.  Keep  near  the  glass  in  a  tempera¬ 
ture  of  65°  at  night  and  70°  to  75°  by  day,  advancing  10°  to  15°  or  more 
from  sun  heat.  Place  a  small  stick  to  eaoh  plant  for  its  support  until 
it  is  large  enough  to  transfer  to  a  hillock  in  the  Melon  house,  rubbing 
off  the  laterals  as  they  appear  up  to  the  height  of  the  lowest  wire  of  the 
trellis 
Heavy  loam  is  the  best  for  Melons,  the  top  3  inches  of  a  pasture 
grazed  by  sheep  laid  up  until  the  herbage  is  reduced,  and  then  chopped 
up  moderately  small.  An  admixture  of  old  mortar  rubbish  to  the  extent 
of  about  a  sixth  supplies  lime  and  grit,  and  the  plants  grow  sturdier  for 
a  supply,  and  a  quart  of  soot  and  2  quarts  of  wood  ashes  to  3  bushels  of 
soil  improve  this  for  Melons,  while  rendering  it  distasteful  to  wireworm 
and  slugs.  A  fourth  of  thoroughly  decayed  manure  may  be  employed 
in  the  case  of  poor  soil.  The  materials  should  be  under  cover  a  few 
days  to  dry,  when  chop  up  the  turf,  and  turn  twice  to  thoroughly 
mix  the  ingredients.  In  due  course  the  compost  should  be  placed  in 
the  Melon  house  similar  to  that  for  planting  Cucumbers.  For  frame 
culture  seed  should  be  sown  early  in  February.  The  materials  must 
be  prepared  and  the  bed  made  up  forthwith  in  the  manner  described  for 
Cucumbers. — S.  A. 
Canadian  Apples. — A  vessel  recently  arrived  at  the  Custom 
House  Docks  with  19,350  barrels,  or  nearly  60,000  bushels,  of  fine 
Canadian  Apples.  As  many  hundreds  of  thousands  of  barrels  of 
Canadian  Apples  have  yet  to  come  aoross,  large  supplies  of  them  will 
be  assured  until  May,  when  the  Tasmanian  shipments  will  be  in  full 
swing. 
