No. 4.] CUCUMBER GROWING. 415 



or not, in which case a seedless fruit is formed. Crooked 

 or unperfectly developed cucumbers are not infrequently 

 produced on vines. It is maintained by some authorities 

 that crooked or ill-formed fruit is the result of miperfect 

 fertilization. In many instances this is no doubt the case, 

 but there are other causes underlying the production of infe- 

 rior formed fruit. It can be safely stated, however, that 

 good plants are endowed with the capacity to produce good 

 fruit, and conversely that it must not be expected that per- 

 fect fruit will be produced on weak plants. From our 

 observations we are led to believe that crooked or imperfectly 

 developed cucumbers are in the largest number of cases 

 produced by plants which are not normal. For example, 

 plants affected with nematode galls, or weakened by thrips, 

 etc., will develop poor fruit. Anything, in fact, that affects 

 assimilation or interferes with the normal function of the plant 

 weakens it, and the result is poorly developed cucumbers. 



Pruning Cucumbers, 

 When cucumbers are grown under glass in winter, the 

 amount of space the plants occupy, together with the 

 amount of fruit which they produce, is of prime importance, 

 from an economic point of view. Under these conditions it 

 is quite essential that as many plants shall be grown as 

 possible, without overcrowding or interfering with condi- 

 tions suitable for maximum production. To secure the best 

 results in the least space, the plants are trained on wires or 

 sticks, in order to use space to the best advantage. The 

 cucumber plant is a prolific grower, and requires a great 

 deal of space if allowed to develop naturally. As there is 

 nothing to be gained in allowing a plant grown under glass 

 to develop in its own manner, the practice of pruning is 

 resorted to. Since the question of utilizing valuable space 

 is an important one, it is necessary that the production 

 of the greatest amount of fruit should be restricted to the 

 least possible space consistent with the normal requirements 

 of the plant. One of the objects of pruning is, therefore, 

 to confine the growth of the plant to certain definite areas, 

 and to concentrate the formation of fruit on the plant to cer- 



