The Garden Under Glass

CHAPTER XVIII CUCUMBERS AND MELONS CUCUMBERS IN A FRAME In the course of my writing for the press on horticultural subjects I have frequently been asked to give details of how to grow cucumbers. Few indeed are the amateurs or small growers who could not grow a cucumber in a frame. If he has a frame and can obtain some stable manure and tree leaves he can certainly grow cucumbers. The actual work of making a hotbed will be given in the part of this work devoted to forcing vegetables. Suffice it here to say that the great danger with the amateur grower is that he will allow the bed to heat too violently, and the result will be death or grave injury to the plants, if they be already planted, or considerable subsequent loss of heat, and as a consequence less satisfactory results. The best way to obviate this danger is by mixing the materials well and also by treading the bed firmly. It is scarcely possible to tread a hotbed too firmly, for no matter how much it is trodden it will always sink somewhat later on. When the bed has been made and the frame set on, a stick might be plunged far into the centre. This, when pulled out and håndled, will be a guide as to the amount of heat in the bed. When the stick feels nicely warm to the hand without being hot it will be safe to get ready for planting. To make i85