152 VEGETABLE GROWING PROJECTS 



Egypt. It has been under cultivation there for more than 3000 

 years. It is not known in the wild state. 



The cucumber plant is an annual with rough trailing stems, 

 more or less branched, and often of considerable length. The 

 leaves are simple and somewhat five-lobed. The flowers are yellow. 

 The fruit is known as a pepo, a fruit with hard rind and seeds im- 

 mersed in a pulpy interior. The rind is not separable, does not 

 break open at maturity, and, although rough and spiny when 

 young, sometimes becomes smooth. Common cucumbers are 

 divided into white spine varieties and black spine varieties. 

 There is an English forcing cucumber which produces seedless 

 fruit owing to the fact that the flowers set fruit without being 

 fertilized. Small cucumbers are often used as gherkins, but there 

 is a genuine gherkin belonging to a different species, a native of 

 the West Indies. There seems to be a popular idea that the 

 cucumber and melon may be crossed, but experiments have not 

 shown this to be true. 



1. To what family does ike cucumber belong f 



2. What term is used to refer to members of this family f 



3. What hind of weather is favorable to the cucumber? 



4. What character is used in dividing common cucumbers into two 



groups f 



5. How are seedless cucumbers produced? 



Project Outline 



1. Will cucumbers pay ? 



2. Selecting location. 



3. Choosing varieties. 



4. Obtaining seed. 



