Vegetables with Edible Fruits 163 



protecting the lettuce. As soon as the crop of lettuce 

 matures, cucumber seeds are planted at proper intervals 

 in these beds. When light frosts occur in the late spring, 

 the canvas can be readily spread to protect the cucumbers 

 from frosts that would not injure lettuce. In this way the 

 beds may be made to serve the double purpose of growing 

 crops of lettuce during the colder part of the year, and 

 when the warmer weather approaches, large yields of 

 cucumbers will mature early in such beds. (See Plate V.) 

 Another way of protecting cucumbers against late 

 frosts is illustrated in Plate I. In this V-shaped troughs 

 are made, the primary object of these being to distribute 

 water to the cucumber field. The sluice way and V-shaped 

 troughs are illustrated in Plate I, the sluice way to the right 

 carrying an abundance of water, the V-shaped troughs 

 lying beside the young cucumber plants. When a frost 

 may be expected, it is easy to overturn the V-shaped 

 troughs on to the young cucumber plants and thus cause 

 them to escape from a destructive cold spell. 



Soil and preparation of the cucumber field. 



A light sandy loam on a southern slope will be found 

 admirable for cucumbers. The low flat lands or bottoms 

 should be avoided. If a warm sandy loam is not accessible, 

 an upland clay may be used ; this will raise as large a crop 

 as a sandy loam, or larger, but will not be quite so early. 

 The field should be plowed to a medium depth, turning it 

 over well. While the cucumber is partial to the finer 

 grades of fertilizer, it will thrive on coarser material than 

 many other plants. Any form of decaying organic 

 material may be utilized to advantage. The field is laid 



