376 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



CUCUMBERS AS A CASH CROP. 



Circular No. 19. 



To produce cucunibeis profitably demands a location near a good sized 

 to^\^l or a sailing; gelation and where enough help to do the picking can 

 be secured. The crop will do well on a variety of soils. If planted on 

 soil that is inclined to be light and also deficient in lunnus, the yield 

 may be shortened unless rain is plentiful during July, August and 

 Sei)tember. If planted on heavy clay, the plants may suffer in a wet 

 year from the soil becoming hard and packed, caused by tramping while 

 picking the cucumbers. A clay loam that is well supplied with Iiumus 

 or decayed vegetable matter is very satisfactory. If it is tile drained, 

 so much the better for at ])icking time, one must get on the ground 

 to pick no matter how wet the soil may be. 



A clover sod plowed early, worked down and harrowed occasionally 

 until i>lanting time makes a good seed bed. Timothy sod handled in 

 the same way is also suitable if it is not too badly infested with cut 

 worms. In fact, any soil intended for cucumbers should be i)lowed 

 early and kept well worked till planting time. Such a method of hand- 

 ling pays for several reasons: 



Firfit. — It helps rid the soil of weeds. When soil is ])h>wed, rolled and 

 worked down reasonably fine, millions of weed seeds will germinate 

 in a few days which can be destroyed by harrowing on a bright day. 

 A second harrowing a week later will destroy a second lot of seedlings. 

 A third and fourth harrowing will destroy a third and fourth lot of 

 seedlings and the fourth lot will just about rid the top soil of weed 

 seeds. The cheapest, qinckest and best iixiy to cultivate a crop is to 

 harrow the soil before the seed for that crop is planted. 



Second. — Keeping the soil well worked conserves moisture and enables 

 the seed to germinate no matter how dry the weather may be at plant- 

 ing time. Soil that has not been plowed or worked until it is needed 

 for planting is quite likely to be dry and full of clods. By the time 

 these clods have been worked doAvn sufficiently fine, the top soil has 

 lost much of its moisture. Such soil might do as a seed bed for corn 

 or for any crop with large seeds which may be planted quite deeply, 

 but it will not be satisfactory for cucumber seeds which should not be 

 j)lanted over an inch deep. Soil which has been plowed early and 

 liarrowed occasionally will be moist an incli below the surface, even 

 during a very dry time. Seed planted in such a soil will germinate 

 readily and produce an even stand of vines wliicli is worth a good deal 

 to any grower. 



Third.— Vjav]y ])lowing and frequent harrowing will put the soil in 

 such a physical condition that it A\ill not pack and bake after every 

 rain. It will become loose, mellow and friable; rain falling upon it 

 will di-ain away, leaving it in ]»ractically the same condilion as it was 

 before the rain, while a rain upon freshly ])lowed ground is (piite 



