304 



VEGETABLE FORCING 



Fig. 101. The long cucumber at 

 the left is Engl sh Telegraph. The 

 short one at the right is a strain of 

 White Spine. The middle specimen 

 is Abundance a cross between the 

 other two varieties. 



In one of the fruits illustrated, 

 38 seeds were found and all 

 of them were within 2 inches 

 of the stem of the fruit. The 

 seeds were slightly larger 

 than those of American cu- 

 cumbers. It was observed 

 that the flesh between the seed 

 cavity and the skin was about 

 the same as in Davis Perfect, 

 which is a cross between an 

 English and an American va- 

 riety, and the flesh was not as 

 crisp as that of the latter 

 class. Numerous varieties are 

 described in English cata- 

 logues, but Telegraph is the 

 only one that has received 

 much attention in the United 

 States. 



American varieties. There 

 are two general classes of 



American cucumbers, which 

 may be designated as "Dark 

 Spine" and "White Spine. " The Dark Spine is not suit- 

 able for forcing purposes; therefore all pure American 

 forcing varieties or strains belong to the White Spine 

 type. Some seedsmen simply use the term "White Spine" 

 as a varietal name, while others apply such terms as 

 Improved Arlington White Spine (Fig. 102), Arlington 

 Extra White Spine, Perfection White Spine, Extra Long 

 White Spine, Evergreen White Spine, Forcing White 

 Spine, Improved White Spine Forcing, etc. Other names 

 used for strains of White Spine are Hill's Forcing, Vick- 

 ery's Forcing, Rawson's Hothouse (Fig. 103), New 

 Emerald, Stokes's Hothouse Perfection and Bay State. 



