Garden Crops Grown for Their Fruits 265 
VINE CROPS 
All the vine crops grown for their fruits belong to 
the gourd family. They are very much alike in habit of 
growth and in cultural needs. All are tender and de- 
cidedly warm-season crops, maturing in summer or 
autumn. Their wide-spreading vines require more room 
than can usually be spared in the garden of small size. 
In the more northern states the season of growth is 
scarcely long enough for some of the vine crops to 
mature. 
Of this group, the bush squashes and the cucumbers 
are the most suitable for planting in the home garden. 
The bush “squashes” (really pumpkins) do not have 
the vine habit, and their fruits mature in summer. 
All vine crops are grown in hills. For early crops, 
plants may be started under glass, but special pre- 
cautions should be taken to keep the roots intact during 
the transplanting. As seedlings of these plants develop 
quickly, they should be started only about 2 weeks before 
the planting date. 
Cucumbers. In the home garden cucumbers are 
grown chiefly for the green, immature fruits. Grow in 
hills about 4 feet apart in rich soil and keep well watered. 
In the cooler sections of the more northern states a single 
planting of both early and later varieties may be suffi- 
cient. Further south and in sections where the summers 
are hot and dry the plants tend todie during the summer, 
and a second or late planting is advisable. Cucumbers 
may be grown as a companion and follow crop with 
such early crops as radishes and peas. 
