168 VEGETABLE GROWING. 



If the plants show any signs of yellowing, they 

 may be restored to health by a light application of 

 liquor manure. They should not be transferred to the 

 field until two weeks after danger of frost is passed ; 

 if the spring be cold and backward, it is better to keep 

 the plants under the protecting cloth. Some vegeta- 

 ble-raisers may object to this method as being expen- 

 sive, but let us see if it is. In the first place, it does 

 away with the first two plowings. In the second place, 

 the plants are further advanced, and so less subject to 

 insect and fungus attacks. The striped cucumber 

 beetle and the cucumber aphis rarely get a start on 

 pot-grown plants. The amount of seed required will 

 be reduced to a minimum. The most important con- 

 sideration, however, is that the first pickings will be 

 two weeks or a month earlier than they would have 

 been had the seed been planted in the field. The 

 greatest drawback is that it requires skill on the part 

 of the "cuke-grower" that is not demanded by the old 

 method. 



SOIL AND PREPARATION OF THE FIELD. 



A light sandy loam on a southern slope will be 

 found admirable. The low flat lands of bottoms 

 should be avoided. If a warm sandy loam is not ac- 

 sessible, an upland clay may be used as a second choice ; 

 this will raise as large a crop, or larger than a sandy 

 loam, but will not be quite so early. 



Plow the field to a medium depth, turning it over 

 well. While this vegetable is partial to the finer 

 grades of fertilizer, it will thrive on coarser material 

 than many other plants. Any form of decaying 

 organic material may be utilized to advantage. Lay 

 the field off in rows six feet apart, and make the hills 

 from four to six feet apart in the row. Two weeks be- 

 fore the field is to be planted, the rows and checks 



