17 Cress And Cucumber

Cress And Cucumber

Cress

Two very unlike species of plants are grown under the name of cress,--the upland-cress and the water-cress. There are still other species, but not much known in this country.

The upland cress, or the true pepper grass, may be grown on any garden soil. Sow early in the spring. It makes a rapid growth and can be cut in from four to five weeks. Succession of sowings must be made, as it runs quickly to seed. The curled variety is the one usually grown, as the leaves may be used for garnishing as well as for 'salads. One packet of seed will be sufficient for each sowing. Any good soil will do. Sow thickly in drills 12 to 18 inches apart. In summer it runs to seed quickly, so that it is usually grown in spring and fall.

The water-cress is more exacting in its culture, and can be successfully grown only in moist places, such as edges of shallow slow-running creeks, open drains, or beds excavated near such streams. A few plants for private use may be grown in a frame, provided a retentive soil is used and attention given to watering the bed often. Watercress may be propagated from pieces of the stem, used as cuttings. If one is fond of water-cress, it is well to colonize it in some clean creek or pool. It will take care of itself year by year. Seeds may also be used for propagating it.

Cucumber

The custom of putting down cucumber pickles in the home kitchen is probably passing out; but both the pickling and the slicing cucumbers, especially the latter, are still an essential part of a good home garden. A stale or wilted cucumber is a very poor article of food.

For early use, the cucumber is usually started in a hotbed or coldframe by sowing the seed on pieces of sod 4 to 6 inches square, turned grass side down. Three or four seeds are placed on or pushed into each piece of sod and covered with 1 to 2 inches of fine soil. The soil should be well watered and the glass or cloth placed over the frame. The roots will run through the sod. When the plants are large enough to set out, a flat trowel or a shingle may be slipped under the sod and the plants moved to the hill without check. In place of sod, old quart berry-boxes are good; after setting in the hill the roots may force their way through the cracks in the baskets. The baskets also decay rapidly. Flower-pots may be used. These plants from the frames may be set out when danger of frost is over, usually by the 10th of May, and should make a very rapid growth, yielding good-sized fruits in two months. The hills should be made rich by forking in a quantity of well-rotted manure, and given a slight elevation above the garden--not high enough to allow the wind to dry the soil, but slightly raised so that water will not stand around the roots.

The main crop is grown from seed planted directly in the open, and the plants are grown under level culture.

One ounce of seed will plant fifty hills of cucumbers. The hills may be 4 to 5 feet apart each way.

The White Spine is the leading general-purpose variety. For very early or pickling sorts, the Chicago, Russian, and other picklings are good.

The striped beetle is an inveterate pest on cucumbers and squashes.

The name gherkin is applied to small pickling cucumbers. The West India gherkin is a wholly distinct species, but is grown like cucumbers.

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