I I 2 



AN IMPARTIAL REPORT ON PEAS, CUCUM- 

 BERS AND BLOOD TURNIP BEETS. 



With the thousand and one varieties of vegeta^bles in 

 existence, it would be folly to try them all in one season. 

 ]\Iany of them I have tried already and discarded. In 

 making up my lists last spring I selected standard kinds and 

 supplemented them with this year's novelties and such 

 other varieties as had some special claim for public favor. 

 I had six varieties of cucumbers on trial, and a detailed re- 

 port with each follows. The seed was planted June 14th. 

 on sod ground that had been manured at the rate of eight 

 cords per acre. A half handful of fertilizer was scattered 

 in each hill. Thorburn's Everbearing produced cucum- 

 bers large enough for slicing July 29, fifty-five days from 

 planting. This variety resembles the old Early Russian 

 and grows about three inches long. On light loams the 

 vine is a weak grower. It blossomed profusely, but nine 

 blossoms out of ten failed to produce fruit. On a rich^ 

 moist soil it might do better. When the cucumbers get 

 large enough for slicing, they turn yellow with one day's 

 exposure to the hot sun, hence it is worthless as a market 

 variety. With me the net returns were less than a third 

 what they were on a row of white spine beside it, and I 

 would only recommend this variety to those who plant on 

 rich, moist land, and have a trade willing to buy very 

 small pickles at thirty cents or more per hundred. Thor- 

 burn's 1896 Pickler requires fifty-seven days to attain the 

 slicing size. It is a good bearer of medium sized fruit, and 

 with me, the earliest large variety. Like the Everbearing 

 the slicers turn yellow when exposed to the sUn, and in 

 the future I shall only plant enough of it to furnish me 

 with a supply for a few days, until the larger and later 

 varieties are ready for use. It is a good variety for pick- 



