236 



THE VINE CROPS 



will permit, and may even be started under glass by the use of 

 dirt bands, as described under " muskmelons " (see p. 225). 



Soil. — Cucumbers demand more moisture than any of the other 

 vine crops. They also require a soil rich in humus. Therefore 

 they are usually planted on low spots near creek beds or in depres- 

 sions between knolls, where the soil is black and deep. For the 

 best results with cucumbers the soil should be sufficiently rich to 

 produce the crop without the addition of manure in the hills, though 

 heavy manuring in the hill is often practiced for the early crop. 



For the planting of cucumbers, hills may be prepared the same 

 as for muskmelons, and the crop planted at the same distances 

 and tilled in the same way. In rich market gardening soil, for a 

 crop of pickles the seed may be sown with a drill, in rows six to 



141. — Gherkin vine and fruit. 





seven feet apart, and the plants thinned to a foot apart in the row. 

 If the vines are trained lengthways of the row as suggested for 

 muskmelons, the gathering of the pickles will be greatly facilitated 

 and the vines remain unt ramped. 



GHERKINS 



Sometimes extremely small pickle cucumbers are called gher- 

 kins. However, this name is applied also to a distinct species 

 of cucumber-like plant which produces small, oval, prickly fruits 

 about an inch long (Fig. 141). They make exceedingly fine pickles 



