Theory and Practice, Applied to the Cultivation of the Cucumber in the Winter Season E-Book

Thomas Moore

• Herausgeber: DigiCat
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

In "Theory and Practice, Applied to the Cultivation of the Cucumber in the Winter Season," Thomas Moore presents a comprehensive exploration of horticultural practices tailored specifically for the cultivation of cucumbers during the winter months. Employing a blend of empirical research and anecdotal evidence, Moore navigates the intricate relationship between theoretical principles and practical applications, offering methods that reflect the agricultural advancements of the early 19th century. His meticulous attention to environmental factors, growth conditions, and botanical anatomy situates this work within the broader context of agricultural literature of the period, blending scientific inquiry with the art of gardening. Thomas Moore, a prominent figure in the horticultural community and an advocate for agricultural innovation, draws from his extensive experience as a gardener and a researcher. His passion for botany and sustainable practices informs his writing, allowing him to combine technical knowledge with an accessible narrative style. Moore's dedication to improving crop yields and promoting responsible farming resonates throughout his work, showcasing his commitment to advancing agricultural practices for the benefit of both cultivators and consumers. This book is highly recommended for both seasoned horticulturists and amateur gardeners seeking to enhance their understanding of winter cultivation techniques. Moore's insightful blend of theory and practice not only serves as a vital resource for improving cucumber production but also embodies the spirit of inquiry and progress that characterizes the evolution of agricultural science. Readers will find inspiration and practical wisdom in Moore's compelling exploration of winter cucumber cultivation.

Leseprobe

Thomas Moore

Theory and Practice, Applied to the Cultivation of the Cucumber in the Winter Season

To Which Is Added a Chapter on Melons

 

EAN 8596547364351

DigiCat, 2022 Contact: [email protected]

Table of Contents

TREATISE.

Chap. I.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

Chap. II.

ON THE STRUCTURES ADAPTED FOR THE GROWTH OF CUCUMBERS.

Chap. III.

ON THE PROPAGATION OF THE CUCUMBER.

Chap. IV.

ON THE TREATMENT OF THE MATURE PLANTS.

Chap. V.

ON THE NATURE, AND COMPOSITION OF THE SOIL.

Chap. VI.

ON THE APPLICATION OF MOISTURE.

Chap. VII.

ON THE REGULATION OF THE TEMPERATURE.

Chap. VIII.

ON THE ADMISSION OF AIR.

Chap. IX.

ON THE GROWTH OF MELONS.

Chap. X.

CONCLUDING REMARKS.

APPENDIX.

TREATISE.

Chap. I.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

Table of Contents

The Cucumber, Cucumis sativa, is supposed to be a native of the East Indies; but like many other of our culinary plants, the real stations which it naturally has occupied, are involved in obscurity: in habit it is a trailing herb, with thick fleshy stems, broadly palmate leaves, and yellow axillary monæcious flowers. In the natural arrangement of the vegetable kingdom, the genus of which it forms part, ranks in the first grand class, Vasculares, or those plants which are furnished with vessels, and woody fibre; in the sub-class Calycifloræ, or those in which the stamens are perigynous; and in the order Cucurbitaceæ, or that group, of which the genus Cucurbita, or Gourd family is the type.

The affinities of this order, are chiefly with Loasaceæ, and Onagraceæ; with the former it agrees in its inferior unilocular fruit, having a parietal placentæ, and with the latter, in its definite perigynous stamens, single style, and exalbuminous seeds. It has also some affinity with Passifloraceæ, and Papayaceæ, in the nature of the fruit, and with Aristolochiaceæ, in its twining habit, and inferior ovarium. M. Auguste St. Hiliare, also regards it as being related to Campanulaceæ, in the perigynous insertion of the stamens, the single style with several stigmas, the inferior ovarium, and in the quinary division of the floral envelope, in connection with the ternary division of the fruit.

The properties of the plants comprised in this natural family, are not numerous; a bitter laxative quality pervades many of them, a familiar example of which is the resinous substance called Colycinthine, the production of the Colocynth gourd, in which the active purgative principle is concentrated, rendering it drastic, and irritating. Among our native plants the roots of Bryonia dioica, in common with the perennial roots of all the plants in the order, possess these purgative properties. On the other hand, the seeds are sweet, yielding an abundant supply of oil; and it may be worthy of remark, that they never partake of the properties of the pulp with which they are surrounded in the fruit.

The Cucumber does not possess the properties common to the order, in very powerful degree; its fruit is however too cold for many persons, causing flatulency, diarrhœa, and even cholera; by others, it may be eaten with avidity, without producing any injurious effects.

The names by which the Cucumber is recognised by the Hindoos, are Ketimon, and Timou. In the French, it is called Concombre; in the German, Gurke; and in the Italian, Citriuolo. As a cultivated plant, it is of nearly equal antiquity with the Vine; being mentioned by the writer of the Pentateuch, as being cultivated extensively in Egypt, above 3000 years since.

The cultivation of this plant, and the production of fine fruit at an early season, is an object of emulation among gardeners of the present day; and from this cause, many important improvements in the mode of its cultivation have been effected. The vast increase of means, arising from an acquaintance with powerful agents, formerly unknown, which are available by the present and rising races of gardeners, enable them to secure the same important results which cost their predecessors much both of labour and anxiety, with a comparatively small amount of the former, and a degree of certainty at which they could never arrive. The agents which an enlightened age has brought under controul, are indeed powerful engines, which require much skill in their adaptation and management; but the knowledge necessary to effect this, is so firmly and inseparably connected with the first principles of cultivation, that an acquaintance with these, will at all times supply a safe and unerring guide to their application.

It is to assist the young gardener in this application of principles, to the growth of the Cucumber in the winter season, that these pages are designed; and of those who may differ from the opinions which are here expressed, it is only required that they should receive a calm and deliberate consideration—a consideration unbiassed by prejudice, and unmixed with any of that feverish excitement after novelties, which with gardeners, as well as with all other classes of society, is becoming far too prevalent, and intense.

Chap. II.

Table of Contents

ON THE STRUCTURES ADAPTED FOR THE GROWTH OF CUCUMBERS.

Table of Contents

I will preface the following remarks on the structures adapted for the growth of Cucumbers, by stating, that a forcing house, a pit, and a common frame, present the means of bringing this fruit to its perfection, equally, one with the other, provided that a course of cultivation suitable to the structure, is followed out; the comparative merits of each, depend not so much on the nature of the results which may be obtained by adopting them, as on the facilities they afford for the attainment of those results.

The use of the common frame, and the ordinary hotbed of fermenting manure, nevertheless involves these difficulties:—the fermentation is liable to become excessive, and that in a very rapid manner, and also to decline as rapidly; the heat, when declining, cannot be speedily restored in unpropitious weather; it is materially checked in its action, by that particular state of the weather, which renders its efficient action most essential; it involves almost an infinitude of labour; and after all, it is uncertain in its action: when such difficulties as these, are overcome, Cucumbers can be grown to perfection, on dung beds, assisted by the common garden frame and sash.

The brick pit, when heated by fermenting manure, presents difficulties of the same nature with the preceeding, though in a less powerful degree: but when these structures are heated by means of hot water, in any of its various modes of application, there need be no irregularity, nor uncertainty in its action; because the supply of the elements of vegetable developement, and of the agents by whose aid they are applied, may, to a very great extent, go on uninterruptedly.

A forcing house, whilst it secures all the advantages which are presented by a pit, combines with these, some important points which are peculiarly its own: by adopting a pit, we provide a structure of which Cucumbers manifest their approval, by thriving equally as well as in their more ancient location on a dung bed; but further than this, a pit enables us to dispense with much of the labour, and all the filth, and the uncertainty which are consequent on the use of fermenting manure as a means of keeping up the temperature in which they are grown. In a small forcing house, besides these advantages being secured, all the operations of care and culture, can be performed just when they become necessary, without exposing the tender foliage of plants which have been submitted to an artificially elevated temperature, to the chilling influence of cold air, which is admitted whenever the sashes of an ordinary frame or of a pit, are opened, in order to bestow these necessary attentions. It may be urged that a dung bed has still the advantage, on the ground of economy; but when a fair calculation is made of labour and loss or anxiety on the one hand, and of duration on the other, such an assumption, will be quite untenable. Neatness, convenience, certainty, and economy, are the principal points of advantage which are gained by the adoption of pits heated by means of hot water, over those of a structure, depending for its supply of heat, on the aid of fermenting masses; whilst the attainment of a still greater degree both of convenience, and of certainty, which may be secured by cultivation in forcing houses, point out at once the advantages which render such houses, preferable to pits.

The application of the gutter system of heating, was not long since thought to be an improvement of great importance, and there can be no question but that it affords a means of regulating the moisture of the atmosphere of hothouses, in conjunction with the temperature, which prior to its introduction had not been attained; and as such, it is worthy of extensive adoption: it requires however some judgement in its adaptation to particular structures, and to render, it suitable, to effect any particular object for which it may be employed.