CUCUMBERS 235 



'' jell " by themselves, causes them to make perfect jelly. This 

 makes a much wider range of flavors possible to the house-wife 

 who takes particular pride in her store of jelly for winter use in 

 her own family, or for the country^voman who makes jellies for 

 city markets as a means of earning spending money. 



CUCUMBERS 



Cucumbers? are used almost entirely in an immature state. 

 This makes it possible for the crop to develop in considerably less 

 time than is required for muskmelons or watermelons, and there- 

 fore extends the northern limit of cucumber culture considerably 

 beyond that of the melons. In central latitudes it is possible to 

 produce a crop of cucumbers from outdoor plantings made as late 

 as July 1. 



Fig. 140. — A slicing cucumber. 



Cucumbers are grown for two distinct purposes: For slicing 

 in the fresh state (Fig. 140), and for making pickles. For slicing, 

 they are gathered after they have attained full length and have 

 filled out considerably, but before the seeds begin to harden. 

 For pickling they are gathered at various stages of earlier develop- 

 ment, but are especially desired when under four inches in length. 

 The pickling of cucumbers is an important industry, and in certain 

 localities hundreds of acres are devoted to growing this crop for 

 the factories. 



For the production of pickle cucumbers earliness is no particular 

 object, and planting is usually deferred until at least the fifteenth 

 or twentieth of June in order to escape the severest attacks of the 

 striped beetles. In the case of slicing cucumbers, however, earli- 

 ness is a prime factor, since the crop is most in demand early in 

 the season. Therefore the seeds are planted as early as the weather 



