GARDENING FOR TROFIT 33 



the twelve hills and raked it in with a garden rake. 

 The hills were now four inches above the level and 

 held the tile firm and upright. We now sowed four- 

 teen seed on top of each hill, put on three-fourths 

 inch fine soil, put on the sash frames, and our 

 cucumber experiment was started. 



As soon as they were out of the ground, on warm 

 days, we w^ould water lightly on the surface. On 

 cloudy days would not touch them; they got all the 

 air they needed through the cloth-covered sashes. We 

 did not have to put extra covering over them only one 

 night. June 17 took off the sashes and hoed the plants 

 nicely. They then looked fine; just as nice under the 

 cloth sashes as under the glass. 



We now commenced to water in the tile, and from 

 this time until the vines were pulled- up, no matter how 

 tired we were, they w^ere watered on the surface in 

 the morning and in the tile after the sun went down. 

 They grew rapidly, and on July i the vines had com- 

 pletely filled the frames and were up to the bottom of 

 the sashes. We now took the sash and frames away, 

 and there we had the finest hills of cucumbers we had 

 ever seen, growing in the same length of time. They 

 continued to grow, blossom and bear until the rows 

 were a solid mass of vines six feet wide. 



It was a pleasure to tend them and watch them 

 grow and bear. Through the long-continued drouth 

 not a leaf turned yellow, all on account of having all 

 the water they wanted. On July 15 we picked the first 

 cucumber ; when we picked the last cucumber Septem- 

 ber II, the vines were still green, but they had borne 

 out ; there was not a single blossom left. 



We have a bath tub close to the well and eight 

 feet from where we grew this frame of cucumbers. 

 The water used was pumped into the bath tub every 

 morning. We have purchased another bath tub, also 



