330 How THE FARM PAYS. 



price, the consumer paying about twice as much. An ordinary yield 

 is about 11,000 ears to an acre. In such cases, however, it was either 

 an early crop or a very late one, bringing two or three dollars per 

 100 ears, while the intervening crops, which came in competition with 

 the full market, often sold as low as seventy-five cents per 100 ears. 

 The importance, then, will be seen, of striking the market at such 

 seasons when the article will be scarce. The quantity of seed required 

 per acre is from six to eight quarts. 



CUCUMBER. 



This vegetable is best suited for warm, rich, sandy, loam ground. 

 It should not be planted until there is a prospect for settled warm 

 weather in the vicinity of New York about the middle of May and 

 in hills four feet apart each way. The hills should previously be pre- 

 pared by thoroughly mixing in a shovel full of well rotted stable 

 manure. In the absence of manure, a small handful of bone dust, or 

 some well known superphosphate, may be used instead. In each hill 



IMPROVED WHITE SPINE CUCUMBER. 



should be planted from eight to ten seeds. When all danger from 

 insects is passed, and the plants are well started, they are thinned 

 out to three or four to each hill. The fruit should be gathered while 

 green, as, if left to ripen on the vines, it very soon destroys their pro- 

 ductiveness. Quite a number of farmers in the vicinity of New York 

 have of late years grown cucumbers for pickling very largely, some 

 devoting as much as twenty acres to this purpose. When grown for 

 pickling they are usually not sown until the middle of July, the 

 ground used being such as has been sown with rye, oats or clover. 

 They are planted in hills about four feet apart, and manured as for 

 table use, and it is claimed that they give an average profit over all 

 expenses of $75 per acre. The kind used for table use is that known 

 as the Improved White Spine; that used for pickling is the Green 

 Prolific. Care should be taken not to get these varieties reversed, 

 or the pickling variety will be found of little use for the table, while 

 the White Spine would be too large for pickling. Quantity of seed 

 required for cucumbers in hills, about two pounds per acre. An 



