234 GARDEN FARMING 



selected as the site for this crop. Like all the vining plants, it 

 thrives on a rich soil and an abundance of available plant food. 

 While the light, sandy soils are favorable to the crop, it is neces- 

 sary, in order that the best results be obtained, to make sure of a 

 liberal supply of available plant food. For this purpose a fertilizer 

 carrying nitrate of soda 300 pounds, cottonseed meal 700 pounds, 

 acid phosphate 750 pounds, and muriate of potash 250 pounds, 

 applied at the rate of 500 to 1000 pounds to the acre should give 

 satisfactory results. 



If the hill system of planting is followed and a supply of well- 

 rotted stable manure is available it is a good plan to place a small 

 shovelful of this compost under each hill in addition to the gen- 

 eral distribution of the fertilizer just mentioned. When the stable 

 manure is not available, the fertilizer should be applied broadcast 

 with a grain drill and thoroughly incorporated with the soil before 

 sowing the seed. It is not well to concentrate the fertilizer too 

 much about the roots of the plants. Injury is more apt to occur 

 when there is a heavy application over a restricted area than when 

 the fertilizer is used broadcast. 



In Southern trucking regions where cucumbers are extensively 

 grown, it is the common practice to turn the land up into broad 

 ridges and to plant rows of cucumbers on top of them. To form 

 the ridges, the area is back-furrowed with a turning plow, the width 

 of the lands corresponding to the distance between the rows of 

 plants ; a dead furrow falling between each two rows provides for 

 the necessary drainage. At the North, however, where cucumbers 

 are grown in the open, the common practice is to plant them either 

 in hills or in drills and give them level cultivation, the land seldom 

 or never being ridged. 



Time of planting. The time for planting the cucumber in the 

 open is determined by the frost-free period of the region. Cucum- 

 bers are exceedingly susceptible to injury by frost, and 'it is never 

 safe to plant them in advance of the time when garden beans can 

 be safely planted. The frost-free period of any region, therefore, 

 determines the time when outdoor planting can begin. The earli- 

 ness of the crop will depend on the earliness of this period, but 

 time is gained by planting the seed in cold frames or hotbeds, 

 as suggested above. 



