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Crooked or Imperfectly Formed Fruit. 



Crooked or imperfectly developed cucumbers are not infrequently 

 produced on vines. It is maintained by some authorities that 

 crooked or ill-formed fruit is the result of imperfect fertilization. In 

 many instances this is no doubt the case, but there are other causes 

 underlying the production of inferior 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 

 perfect fruit will be produced on weak plants. From our observa- 

 tions 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 cucum- 

 bers. Since cucumbers are sorted into what is known as No. i and 

 No. 2, which bring a different price, the production of straight fruit 

 is a thing to be desired from a financial point of view. One grower, 

 however, informs me that he has no seconds, as he practices a method 

 of treatment which will develop inferior into perfect fruit. His 

 method consists in the manipulation of the spines. For example : 

 if the fruit is growing too large at either end, the spines are rubbed 

 away on that portion which shows the greatest development. This it 

 is maintained will cause the undeveloped portion to fill out and 

 result in a perfectly formed fruit. In the same manner, if one side 

 is developing faster than the other, the spines of that side should be 

 destroyed, which results in stimulating the undeveloped side. As far 

 as I am aware this theory is original with my informer, and we have 

 never discovered any one else who practiced it. It should therefore 

 be accepted for what it is worth. 



Bitter Fruit. 



Occasionally trouble is experienced by the production of bitter 

 fruit. The cause of this is not known but there seems to be a gen- 

 eral agreement among growers as to some of the conditions which 

 are responsible for it. It is the general opinion that bitter fruit 

 occurs late in the season when the plants are deteriorating and the 

 fruit is maturing slowly. It has also been noticed that poorly devel- 



