290 VEGETABLE GARDENING 



room in which to grow. They should be planted about 

 eight feet apart each way. 



Harvesting. Watermelons must be harvested at the 

 right time, if they are to be shipped to market. Large quan- 

 tities are grown in the Southern states for shipping north. 

 Indiana Bulletin No. 123 shows the number of melons of 

 any given size that can be loaded on a car. 



Varieties. There are many kinds of watermelons offered 

 by seedsmen, differing from one another in many partic- 

 ulars. Several of the most esteemed are the following: 



Dark and Light Icing, or Ice Rind. The best two 

 varieties for general use. Well adapted for home use or 

 marketing. 



Cole, is a small early-ripening melon grown in the 

 North. Kleckly Sweet is a melon of good quality and 

 largely grown. 



Citron, or Preserving Melon. This resembles water- 

 melon, but the flesh is hard and fit only for preserves. 

 There is but a limited demand for it. 



CUCUMBER (Cucumis sativus) 



Description. Native of the East Indies. Annual. 

 A creeping plant with angular, flexible stems, rough to 

 touch and furnished with tendrils. The flowers are yellow, 

 in the axils of the leaves, some male, others female; the 

 latter flowers are on the ovary, which later becomes the 

 cucumber. The plants produce flowers and fruit in suc- 

 cession over a long season, and these are naturally pollin- 

 ized by insects. The seed is long-oval in form and yellow- 

 ish-white in color. There are two types of fruit, the long 

 or English variety used in greenhouses, and the short or 

 White Spine type used both indoors and outside. 



