CUCUMBERS FOR PICKLING. 47 



manure. I know there is greater expense involved in han- 

 dling stable-manure than in handling fertilizers ; but two 

 hundred dollars will buy a great deal of stable-manure, and 

 it will pay for the first cost of it. Two hundred dollars will 

 buy but a very small quantity of guano or any other fertilizer 

 of that kind. Very few of us can afford, in my opinion, to 

 buy these fertilizers. If we have our ground filled with 

 manure, and wish to force a crop very early, then an appli- 

 cation of a good fertilizer might be advisable, because the 

 crop could be sold in the market for a price that would 

 warrant the outlay. But that is the only way in which I 

 can imagine these fertilizers will pay the common farmer. 



Mr. Philbrick, in his remarks, separated the farmers 

 that live within six miles of Boston into one class, and the 

 farmers that live from seven to fifteen miles from Boston 

 into another class. I happen to live about fifteen miles from 

 Boston. He stated that the crops on farms from seven to 

 fifteen miles from Boston average about five hundred dollars 

 an acre. I live at the limit, fifteen miles ; and therefore I 

 should expect five hundred dollars per acre. I have not 

 received that amount ; and therefore I think part of it must 

 apply to those nearer Boston, — seven or eight or nine miles. 



I will state that the growth of small cucumbers for the 

 pickle-business has been as profitable to me as any crop I 

 have raised; but the day for pickles being profitable has 

 passed. Years ago we used to get from fourteen cents to 

 twenty cents per hundred. Twenty cents we considered an 

 extreme price ; and I never realized that on a contract, except 

 one year. There is something to be made on them at that 

 price. Now the price has been reduced to about a minimum 

 of ten or eleven cents a hundred. The expense of raising 

 them is much less ; but it leaves very little, if any, margin 

 for the farmer. 



I would like to ask one question in regard to squash rais- 

 ing. I have had considerable trouble in raising squashes. 

 When the squashes have formed, and sometimes when they 

 have grown as large as one's head, the vines die. There 

 seems to be no remedy for it. My experience is, that the 

 only way to prevent it is to plant the crop late. When I 

 have planted the seeds from the middle of May to the 1st 

 of June, I have found that my crop has been a failure ; but, 



