170 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 



us, the Roman emperor Tiberius, who was fond of cucum- 

 bers, had them throughout the year. The forcing con- 

 sisted in growing the cucumbers in boxes or baskets of 

 earth, protected in cold weather by these plates. The 

 cucumber is a vegetable that is very easily grown, and 

 is so productive when properly manured and cultivat- 

 ed; it is so universally popular at the North, and is 

 consumed so largely, that when the season permits the 

 marketing of the greater part of the produce, it is one of 

 the best paying crops. One of the drawbacks of truck- 

 farming is, that whether the entire product of a crop is 

 harvested or not, as soon as the same vegetable matures 

 at a point farther North, it comes into market in a condi- 

 tion fresher and more acceptable to the trade, and, there- 

 fore, excludes from profitable sale all shipments of the 

 article from the more southern and distant points. Thus, 

 when the Savannah cucumbers are in, those from Flor- 

 ida will be thrust out of the market; and the same fate 

 awaits those from Georgia, as soon as the Norfolk crop 

 matures. The season of 1882 was a fortunate one for the 

 Savannah growers, nearly the entire yield of cucumbers 

 having been marketed. While from two hundred to 

 three hundred crates may be considered a fair crop; one 

 farmer gathered one thousand three hundred and fifty 

 crates from about an acre and a half, or nine hundred 

 crates per acre, on very richly manured ground. 



VARIETIES. 



The only variety grown for shipment is the " Improved 

 White Spine." In cucumber cultivation, seeds of home 

 growth may be used. Seeds of more than one year old 

 will be more productive, and run less to vine, than fresh 

 seeds. They may be sown in the vicinity of Savannah ac- 

 cording to season, about March 1st to the 15th, and 

 earlier or later, respectively, south or north of that lati- 



