84 One Thousand Questions in Agriculture 



Plant Corn in Warm Ground. 



/ also put in a lot of com and none of it came up. The ground 

 was damp and rather cold, as zvell as being alkali. 



Corn should never be planted in cold, wet ground — in fact, very 

 few seeds should be. Besides, corn has no use for alkali. 



Sweet Corn in California. 



/ have been informed that szveet corn cannot he raised in this part 

 of the country, on account of worms eating the kernels before the ear 

 lias matured. Is there any method of overcoming this difficulty? 



You have been correctly informed concerning the difficulty in 

 growing sweet corn. Although many experiments have been made, 

 no method of overcoming this pest has yet been demonstrated. For 

 this reason canning of corn is not undertaken in this State, and for 

 the same reason most of the green corn ears sold in our markets 

 have the tops of the ears amputated. It is sometimes possible to 

 escape the worm by planting rather late, so that the ears shall de- 

 velop after the moth, which is parent of the worm, has deposited 

 its eggs. 



Forcing Cucumbers. 



Give information on growing hot-house cucumbers, and also if you 

 think it would pay me to go into the business in southern California. 



Forcing of cucumbers has been undertaken for a number of years 

 in California and formerly was considered unprofitable because cu- 

 cumbers grown in the open air in frostless places came in before 

 the forced product could be sold out at sufficiently high prices to 

 make the venture profitable. Recently, however, owing to our in- 

 creased population in cities and larger demand of products out of 

 season, forcing becomes more promising and is worthy of attention. 

 Forcing of cucumbers in California can be done at very much less 

 expense, of course, than elsewhere, because of the abundance of 

 winter sunshine and the fact that sufficiently high temperatures can 

 be secured in glass houses with exceedingly little if any artificial 

 heat.' The chances of growing cucumbers out of season for ship- 

 ment eastward and northward can be discussed with the officers of 

 the California Vegetable Growers' Union, which has offices and ware- 

 house in Los Angeles. 



Cucumber Grov(?ing. 



/ have a piece of red so-called orange land zvhich has produced ex- 

 cellent wheat. Will you give information about its adaptability to cu- 

 cumbers? Are there pickle factories in the State which would demand 

 them in quantities, and is there much other demand for them? About 

 when should they be planted, and how much ivater zvotild they need? 



The cucumber needs a retentive soil which does not crack and 

 bake, and such a soil is made by abundance of organic matter. Your 

 orange soil, unless heavily treated with stable manure and given 



