336 VEGETABLE GARDENING 



great variety of packages is used in handling this crop 

 For local markets, upright half-bushel baskets are pop- 

 ular and several forms of crates or boxes are in common 

 use. For shipping, bushel and half barrel hampers 

 (Figure 48) are employed in the large trucking sections 

 of the South. In Texas and perhaps in some other 

 southern states the crop is often loaded in bulk in stand- 

 ard refrigerator cars. A false floor is made of boards and 

 2x4 pieces, plenty of space being allowed between the 

 boards. Another floor is made about midway between 

 the first and the roof of the car, and supported by 2 x 4 

 posts. Six hundred bushels may be loaded in a car. They 

 generally arrive in the northern markets in first-class 

 condition. 



442. Yields and returns. — Yields vary from 100 to 500 

 bushels an acre, but 200 half-barrel hampers is consid- 

 ered a good crop. Prices range from 50 cents to $2 a 

 bushel or hamper. The early picklers are sometimes 

 sold on local markets by the dozen, 10 to 25 cents being 

 common prices. A return of $300 an acre for slicing 

 cucumbers is sometimes obtained, although average re- 

 ceipts are much lower. Picklers produce from three to nine 

 tons an acre, and the price probably averages $15 a ton-. 



443. The Striped Cucumber Beetle (Diabrotica vittata), 

 the most destructive insect pest of the cucumber, is 

 described by Chittenden as follows: "The beetle meas- 

 ures about 2-5 inch in length. Its color is yellow above, 

 with black head and elytra longitudinally striped. The 

 egg is lemon yellow. The larva is a slender, white, 

 wormlike creature, with brown head, anal and thoracic 

 plate. When mature it measures about 3-10 inch, this 

 being about 10 times its width. The species is indig- 

 enous and inhabits the entire eastern United States." 



The beetles are particularly destructive to the young 

 plants, but also feed on the old plants as well as on the 

 fruit. The larvae frequently cause heavy losses by Avork- 



