CULTURAL DIRECTIONS 331 



cultivated in India for at least 3,000 years, but accord- 

 ing to DeCandolle was not introduced into China 

 until the second century before Christ. It was first 

 grown in England in 1573. Cucumbers were grown by 

 the earliest settlers in this country, and the crop has 

 been increasing in commercial importance. It is used 

 largely for slicing and pickling and to some extent for 

 cooking. The main trucking districts of the South re- 

 gard it as one of their standard crops. In some parts of the 

 North it is grown on a large scale for pickling. It is third 

 in importance of the vegetables produced under glass. 



431. Botany. The cucumber is an annual, belonging 

 to the genus Cucumis and to the family Cucurbitaceae. 

 The stems are rough, creeping, angular and flexible, 

 bearing tendrils and cordate obscurely five-lobed leaves. 



Both staminate and pistillate flowers are produced in 

 the axils of the leaves, the staminate appearing first gen- 

 erally near the bases of the stems. The flowers are large> 

 yellow and usually on short peduncles. They require 

 the assistance of insects to effect pollination. In green- 

 houses this is accomplished by means of bees or by 

 hand pollination. There are two types of fruit the 

 English, long and slender, and the American, short and 

 thick. 



432. Varieties. English varieties are not grown in 

 this country except to a limited extent in greenhouses. 

 The best representative of the American type is White 

 Spine. It is especially desirable for slicing. For this pur- 

 pose it is grown under glass as well as in the open. The 

 various strains of White Spine are grown more largely 

 than all other varieties combined. Several varieties are 

 regarded as especially valuable for pickling. Among 

 them may be mentioned Chicago Pickling, Boston 

 Pickling and Fordhook Pickling. 



433. Climatic requirements. The cucumber is grown 

 commercially, on a large scale, under a wide range of 



