344 



VEGETABLE FORCING 



Fig. 122. Cucumbers packed in bushel boxes. 



they can be set on top of one another without danger of 

 bruising the fruits. When wrapped with paper, the 

 basket makes a pleasing and satisfactory package. A 

 basket holds from 24 to 30 cucumbers, the number in 

 each being marked on the handle. 



Yields and returns. There is the widest variation in 

 the yields of greenhouse cucumbers. From 45 to 60 

 fruits to the plant are expected by most growers in the 

 Boston district, though much larger numbers are often 

 harvested. When a short season is planned and the 

 growth is limited to a single stem with its axillary 

 branches, 30 fruits to the plant is a good yield, especially 

 if the plants are set close together. 



With the arbor system of training, as employed at 

 Rochester, N. Y., where the spacing is liberal, a single 

 plant may produce 50 or more specimens. One house in 

 this district containing 550 plants averaged nine dozen 

 to the plant. Two thousand dozen cucumbers of the va- 

 riety Abundance from a 30 by 180-foot house is con- 

 sidered a good yield in the Rochester district, and as 



