906 



CUCUMBER 



CUCUMBER 



be kept covered with bordeaux throughout their 

 growth. This will require at least three or four spray- 

 ings. The growth of the vines, which usually com- 

 pletely covers the ground, prevents late sprayings, 

 which are often necessary to maintain healthy growth 

 and insure maximum returns. 



The common field varieties most popular in the 

 United States grown for a slicing cucumber are of the 

 White Spine type. Many of the so-called White 

 Spine varieties now on the market are not typical 

 of the original White Spine cucumber, which is a fruit 

 averaging about 6 inches in length, rather blunt on 

 both ends, with white prickles appearing at frequent 

 intervals over the surface. The seed end is light-colored, 

 in mature specimens almost white with whitish stripes 

 extending toward the stem end from one^third to one- 

 half the length of the cucumber. What is often cata- 



,-' :.'*- 



1122. Three prominent varieties of English or Forcing cucumber. 

 S. Sion House; E. Duke of Edinburgh; T. Telegraph. (XK) 



logued as the Improved White Spine has become more 

 popular among growers within recent years. This type 

 possesses some of the characteristics of the popular 

 English type of cucumber known as the Telegraph. 

 The improved type has been obtained by crossing the 

 White Spine with the Telegraph or some closely related 

 variety. This cross has resulted in an increased length 

 and darker green color, with a fewer number of spines 

 and seeds and a more common tapering of the ends. 

 All of these changes have apparently been beneficial 

 and have been well fixed by careful selection. This is 

 well illustrated by the cucumber of the White Spine 

 type sold as Woodruff Hybrid. 



The English type of cucumbers is raised on a small 

 scale in this country but infrequently for market 

 purposes. 



Forcing of cucumbers. 



The commercial production of cucumbers under 

 glass has assumed large proportions. This crop ranks 

 second in commercial importance among greenhouse- 



grown vegetable crops, lettuce only exceeding it in 

 importance. The cucumber crop is ordinarily grown in 

 the spring of the year after two or three crops of let- 

 tuce have been removed, and it continues to occupy the 

 ground until the vines cease bearing, due either to poor 

 .management, pests or some similar trouble. The cucum- 

 ber should come into bearing six to eight weeks after 

 setting in the houses. It is the customary plan to plant 

 the seed in 4- to 6-inch clay pots about two weeks 

 before the house to be used is ready for setting. These 

 pots are often placed over manure heat and should 

 always be in a warm house separate from the lettuce. 

 Two weeks should be sufficient to allow the plant a good 

 start, two or three pairs of leaves being all the develop- 

 ment desired before setting in the permanent location. 

 Careful management is essential to a healthy growth, for 

 many pests prove more serious in the glasshouse than in 

 the field. A night temperature not below 60 F. is very 

 essential, while the day temperature may go to 90 F. 

 without danger in bright sunshine. The appearance of 

 the plants will immediately indicate, to the experienced 

 observer, the conditions under which the crop has been 

 grown. A short stocky growth between joints with 

 dark green foliage is desirable. There are localities 

 in which growers make cucumbers the all-the-year- 

 round crop in the glasshouse, usually growing crops 

 from two seedings during the entire season. It requires 

 more skill to produce good cucumbers during the fall 

 and winter months than from February on, and the 

 yield is much lighter in the late fall and early winter 

 than for the spring crop. All cucumbers require an 

 abundance of moisture and food. It has become a com- 

 mon practice in certain sections to mulch the cucum- 

 ber vines in the greenhouse with good quality strawy 

 manure to the depth of 3 or 4 inches and apply the 

 water directly on the manure. This practice eliminates 

 the packing and puddling of the soil often caused by 

 direct heavy watering, increases the supply of readily 

 available plant-food and gives the roots a good oppor- 

 tunity to grow near the surface where air is available 

 and still be protected from the drying out which occurs 

 when the soil is directly exposed to the sun. 



The pruning and training of the cucumbers in the 

 greenhouse is of much importance. A number of 

 methods are in common use, one of the most common 

 and practical of which is: Stretch a wire tightly the 

 length of the house at the base of the plants which may 

 be set in rows 3 feet apart and 18 inches to 2 feet apart 

 in the rows; fasten at the base of each plant a soft but 

 strong twine known in tobacco-growing sections as 

 tobacco twine, securing this single twine to an over- 

 head wire running parallel and directly over the ground 

 wire, but not stretching the string tight. As the cucum- 

 ber plant grows, it is twined about this string to which it 

 clings by tendrils. When the plant reaches the upper 

 wire it is either allowed to grow at will over wires 

 provided for an overhead support and from which the 

 cucumbers usually hang down where they can be easily 

 picked, or it is pruned and the encouragement of 

 fruiting along the upright stem continued. In the mean- 

 time more or less fruit has been harvested and at each 

 joint a lateral branch has appeared. It is necessary to 

 cut these off. Some growers prefer to take them off 

 back to the main stem, while others, if a cucumber 

 is obtainable on the first joint of the lateral, nip the 

 lateral just beyond this point. 



"In the greenhouse, cucumbers are; liable to damage 

 from mite, aphis, root-gall and mildew. For the mite, 

 syringe the plant and pick off the infested Ivs. ; for 

 aphis, use tobacco fumigation and pick infested Ivs.; 

 for root-gall, use soil which has been thoroughly frozen; 

 for mildew, improve the sanitary conditions, and then 

 use sulfur." Bailey, "Forcing-Book." 



Yields of twenty-five to one hundred and twenty-five 

 cucumbers have been secured from single plants. The 

 expert growers, under normally good circumstances, 



