232 GARDEN FARMING 



and southern Texas reach the Northern markets, and as soon as 

 those from more northerly points become sufficiently developed, the 

 more southern shipments give place to them in succession until the 

 most northerly sections in which intensive truck gardening is con- 

 ducted are reached ; when the field product is no longer available 

 the greenhouses contribute their supply. This is in conformity with 

 the general plan of truck-crop production throughout the country. 



Starting the plants. In the extreme South, where there is little 

 or no danger from frosts, cucumbers can be started in November or 

 December and the crop gathered for the Northern markets during 

 the early spring months. In more northern localities, where there 

 is danger of frosts, the gardener may resort to muslins or hotbed sash 

 to protect the beds and bring the plants on under cover, transplant- 

 ing them to the field as soon as danger from frost is past in Feb- 

 ruary, March, or April, the exact time depending upon the locality. 



Transplanting. A common practice in the frost zone is to start 

 the seedling plants in seed beds, which may be protected by sash 

 or muslins. When the plants are large enough to transplant to the 

 open and conditions are right, disks of soil are cut out with a hol- 

 low cylindrical-shaped iron implement, fashioned somewhat after 

 a section of stove pipe, but having a total length of not more than 

 8 or 9 inches and a diameter of about 5 or 6 inches. These disks 

 of soil containing the roots of the plant are shifted to a carrying 

 board by means of a shingle or trowel slipped under the cutter, 

 and are left on this board until the plants are slipped out of the 

 rings into their permanent place in the field. The rings are then 

 removed and carried back to the seed bed to receive another sup- 

 ply of plants. With 50 or 100 such metal rings it is a very easy 

 matter to transplant a large number of cucumbers. 



Another, somewhat simpler, means of accomplishing the same 

 result consists in the use of wooden boxes like those employed by 

 strawberry growers for shipping fruit. The boxes are filled with 

 rich soil in which the seeds are planted, and then plunged to the 

 rim in the soil of a cold frame protected by muslin or sash. When 

 it is desired to transplant to the field, the boxes are lifted, carried 

 to the field, and planted ; that is, the berry baskets are not removed 

 from the balls of earth. Some growers use a paper pot, constructed 

 of heavy manila-paper boards, to accomplish the same end. 



