42 



oped or stunted cucumbers are more likely to be bitter. Outdoor 

 cucumbers are known to be occasionally bitter. It would appear 

 that the bitter fruit is caused by some abnormal metabolic process 

 in the plant not at present understood. 



Lack of Color in Fruit. 



Too light colored cucumbers do not command as high a price as 

 those well colored, consequently they are not so desirable. The 

 fruit of the Hybrid (Telegraph x White Spine) possesses more color 

 than the White Spine, and on this account is preferred by many. 

 Sometimes the White Spine becomes abnormally light, which is 

 believed to be due to the absence of certain fertilizers in the soil. 

 Many growers believe they obviate this trouble by using nitrate of 

 soda as a fertilizer. Since nitrate of soda is very likely to be used 

 in excess, thus causing injury to the crop, care should be exercised 

 in applying it. Too heavy doses of nitrate to the soil restrict root 

 absorption, thus causing a wilting of the foliage. It would seem 

 desirable to put nitrate of soda on in a liquid form with some such 

 device as the Kinney Pump. A solution containing one part of 

 nitrate of soda to eight hundred or one thousand parts of water 

 can be used occasionally and constitutes a desirable form to apply. 



Productiveness of Cucumbers. 



The White Spine is probably the most productive of any strain 

 grown under glass. Since cucumbers are quite dependent upon 

 light, the largest yields occur in the spring or summer when the sun 

 is high, the days longer and the light more intense. In one house 

 containing 460 plants set out April i, there were picked between 

 May I and Aug. 25, 30,000 cucumbers, or an average of about 65 to 

 a plant, which sold for 3 cents each. The plants were in good con- 

 dition and bearing prolifically at the last named date. Another 

 house containing 986 vines yielded from May to October 47,094 

 salable cucumbers, or an average of 47 to a plant. A larger yield 

 would undoubtedly have been obtained in this house if fewer vines 

 had been planted. A crop started June 19 and running to Septem- 

 ber gave an average yield of 88 cucumbers per plant. One grower 

 maintains that his spring and summer crop usually av^erages about 

 90 to a plant. In a house containing 200 plants 31,060 cucumbers 



