43 



were produced between June i and July 15 or an average of 155 

 cucumbers per plant. They brought from 2 to 7 cents each. W. 

 W. Rawson, who plants cucumbers after two or three crops of winter 

 lettuce is said to produce 600,000 cucumbers per year. He picks 

 about 2000 per day in March, 4000 in April, 10,000 in May, and 

 15,000 in June. The largest picking he records is 50,000 in one 

 day. It will be noticed that these records are all for spring and sum- 

 mer crops. The yield for fall and winter crops is much smaller. A 

 fall and winter crop that will average 25 to 50 cucumbers per plant 

 is a desirable one. The yield of individual plants is sometimes quite 

 remarkable. In one instance 149 No. i cucumbers were picked 

 from one plant. In another instance over 200 were picked from a 

 single plant, 2 1 of which were picked on three consecutive days. 

 The largest amount of fruit occurring in a single axil of which we 

 have a record is six. Outdoor cucumbers for pickles are noted as 

 great producers. The largest and best crop we saw last summer 

 gave a yield of 102,700 pickle cucumbers from three acres as a result 

 of two pickings during one week. 



Vitality of Seeds. 



Considerable difference exists in the germinating capacity of seeds 

 and in the time which it takes them to germinate. Some seeds ger- 

 minate in two or three days, while others of the same variety will 

 require one or two weeks, even under the same conditions as regards 

 temperature, etc. Seeds one year old according to our experience will 

 germinate quickly, whereas older seeds germinate more slowly. Mr. 

 W. W. Rawson who has had large experience as a grower and seeds- 

 man states that " new seed will produce the strongest vines and will 

 germinate much quicker than older seed, say two or three days. I 

 prefer seed five or six years old that will germinate in six or seven 

 days. They will produce more fruit with less vine than new seed. 

 I do not think the percentage of germination is any better in new 

 seed than in seed five or six years old." 



