SEED-VESSELS WE EAT 26 1 



plant at all. The earth in the pot, too, can be 

 slipped out and planted. 



The cucumber is a native of the East Indies, and 

 has been cultivated in China for three thousand 

 years. One of the staple foods of the peoples of 

 the Far East is boiled cucumbers. Europeans 

 boil them, and also make them into pickles and 

 preserves. The flowers appear in the axils of 

 the leaves, staminate and pistillate separate, but 

 borne on the same plant. The pistillate flowers 

 wither, and the little button under the greenish- 

 yellow corolla develops into the elongated fruit. 

 The rough "gherkin" type of cucumber, grown 

 for pickles, is cut before the faded flower drops 

 from the tip. The choicest sweet pickles, by our 

 standards, are scarcely two inches long, though 

 more commonly we let them grow to twice that 

 length before cutting. The vines go on bearing all 

 summer. For salads, cucumbers are grown almost 

 to mature size. 



Ripe cucumbers are indigestible, when eaten 

 raw, and their seeds are hard. The flesh is used 

 for sweet pickles and preserves, as the white inner 

 rind of watermelon is, with lemon peel and spices 

 to give it added flavor. 



Cucumber vines spread six or eight feet from 

 the hill, so they must be given enough room, or 



