242 LESSONS IN AGRICULTURE 



g. Growing Cucumbers Intensively 



Select a fertile spot and dig a hole in the ground 

 large enough to sink a barrel midway. Knock the 

 bottom out of the barrel, and set it in the hole in the 

 ground. Fill the earth in about the outside of the bar- 

 rel, and mound the soil up to the rim of the barrel 

 on the outside. Now fill the barrel with manure, packed 

 firmly, and keep it covered to prevent the house flies 

 from breeding in it. 



The bed is ready for planting. Plant five or six 

 hills of cucumber seeds in the mound heaped up about 

 the outside of the barrel. Put about ten seeds in a 

 hill, and when the plants get large enough to vine, re- 

 move half of them. 



Pour several pails of water into the barrel of ma- 

 nure each day, and the water leaching through the 

 manure will furnish the best of fertilizer for the plants, 

 and the necessary moisture for their thrifty growth. 

 These few hills will furnish an abundance of cucum- 

 bers, and upon a very small space of ground. 

 3. Cultural Requirements for Vegetables 



Learn to fill out the following table from memory, 

 when the column of vegetables is given; 



