TEUCK I'AmnNG. 617 



The Cucumber {Gucumis sativus). 



The cucumber is a vegetable so universally popular at the Korth, it is 

 so easily grown, carries so safely, and is so productive that, when the 

 bulk of the crop can be shipped, it is one of the best paying crops of 

 the truck farmer. One of the drawbacks of the industry is that when- 

 ever the same vegetable matures at a point further north, it comes into 

 market so much fresher and mor« acceptable to the trade that, whether 

 the entire product be harvested or not, shipments from more distant 

 points are forced out of the market and must cease. This obtains per- 

 haps more frequently with the cucumber than with any other. The sea- 

 son of 1882 was a most fortunate one in this respect. While from. 200 

 to 300 crates is a fair crop, one farmer gathered from 1 acre of richly 

 manured ground the entire product of 900 crates. 



The usual variety grown is the White Spine or Improved White 

 Spine. 



They may be sown in the latitude of Savannah about the 1st to 15th 

 of March, and earlier or later south or north, respectively. It may 

 go without saying that this applies to the planting of all other crops. 



The soil best adapted to the cucumber is a moist, warm, light, sandy 

 loam, but although large crops may not be produced, very fine cucum- 

 bers may be grown, if highly fertilized, on sandy soil. In fact no good 

 crop without liberal manuring can be expected from any land, say, 30 

 loads or more per acre. Instead of the more common manner of hill- 

 planting, leaving two or three plants in each, manuring and seeding in 

 the drill with the ridges 6 feet apart and single x)lants 12 to 18 inches 

 distant, is to be preferred. Several sowings at weekly intervals are 

 advisable to secure a stand in case the first, or oven second, should be 

 injured by frost. 



Instead of being pulled the cucumbers should be cut from the vine, 

 and none of imperfect form, short, round, and contracted at one end, 

 nor with the least tendency to turn yellow, nor large and overgrown, 

 should be packed for shipment to endanger the market value of the 

 package. They should be carefully laid in the crates, and these be well 

 filled. The White Spine is white instead of being yellow when ripe. 

 To save the seed they should be cut open lengthwise and the seed and 

 pulp scraped out into a tub or barrel. The mass should be stirred daily 

 for four or five days, when fermentation will have removed tbo gelatin- 

 ous substance which surrounds the seeds. These are frequently washed, 

 dried, and stored away in bags. 



The insects infesting the cucumber at the South are, (1) the Cucum- 

 ber Flea-beetle (Haltica cucumeris) ; (2) the Striped Cucumber-beetle 

 {Diahrotica vittata) ; (3) the Twelve-spotted Squash-beetle or Stri])e(]- 

 bug {Diahrotica 12-punctata) ; (4) the Pickle- worm {Fhacellura nifidalis), 

 and (5) the Grass-worm {Laplirygma friigiperda). 



'No. 1 may be driven off, if troublesome, with fresh soot or lime sprin- 

 kled on the plants, but it does not destroy them. i^To. 2 or 3 may 1)«^ 

 ])oisoned with Paris green, but it is rarely the truck farmer can resort 

 to these measures, nor is the damage done severe enough to warrant 

 the trouble. The larvaj of ISTos. 2 and 3 are sometimes very destructive 

 to the seed in the ground, eating the germ. Seeds are often condemned 

 when their not coming up should be attributed to this cause. 



THE Egg-Plant or GUINEA SQUASH (Solanum melongena). 



Although this vegetable often carries badly, shipments are annually 

 increasing, particularly from Florida. It is also becoming more popular 



