CHAPTER V 



CUCUMBERS 



The existence of the cucumber in the New World 

 can be traced to the time of Columbus according to 

 Washington Irving who in his " Life of Columbus " states 

 that he was known to have grown the crop in 1494 

 on the island of Haiti. This vegetable was later reported 

 by Cartier in 1535 in the vicinity of the present city of 

 Montreal, by the early colonists of Virginia in 1609; and 

 cucumbers are said to be one of the crops destroyed by 

 General Sullivan in 1779 on his raid of destruction through 

 western New York. In 1806 McMahon included a list 

 of 8 cucumber varieties in his Gardeners' Catalogue, 

 viz.. Early Short Prickley, Long Green Prickley, 

 White Prickley. Long Green Turkey, Long White Turkey, 

 Smyrna, Roman and White Spined. Practically all of 

 these are mentioned in European literature prior to this 

 time, thus suggesting their old world origin. 



Most modern varieties have gradually evolved from 

 the European sorts, either as selections from direct 

 importations or as the result of planned or natural 

 hybridization. Up to 1872 when Tailby's Hybrid was 

 first exhibited, there had been little or no active interest 

 shown towards new sorts. Cucumbers previously listed 

 were for the most part European importations though 

 occasionally improved selections of White Spined and 

 London Long Green were brought to the attention 

 of the growers. From 1880 to the present there has 

 been considerable increase in the number of cucumber 

 varieties. Prior to 1900 such well-known sorts as 

 Arlington White Spine, Everbearing, Cool and Crisp, 

 Evergreen White Spine, Henderson's Perfected, Chicago 

 Pickling and Boston Pickling were developed. The 

 first 10 years of the 20th century saw the introduc- 

 tion of some of our favorite varieties, upon which the 

 modern development of superior varieties is based. In 

 this period Davis Perfect, Early Fortune, Emerald, 

 Klondike and Snow's Pickling were introduced. During 

 the next two decades no less than 22 new sorts were 

 originated including such new varieties as A and C, 

 Adams, Barteldes, Double Yield Pickling, Longfellow, 

 National Pickling and President. The Colorado, intro- 

 duced in 1934 and Straight-8 listed in 1935 represent 

 two very excellent sorts that have little in common with 

 the cucumbers grown during the time of our early 

 colonization. 



From the commercial point of view the American 

 varieties of cucumbers are composed of three classes, 

 based on their use. First, the field grown slicing or 

 table sorts, characterized by the presence, with few 

 exceptions, of white spines, grow to fairly large size, are 

 usually attractive, and retain their green color over a 

 comparatively long period of time. Second, the pickling 

 varieties, also field grown, are almost invariably black- 

 spined and are further characterized by being much 

 smaller than the slicing varieties, much less tapered at the 



tip in immature stages, decidedly more productive, and 

 somewhat less retentive of their green color, and do not 

 shrivel during the pickling process. Third, the forcing 

 or greenhouse varieties are obviously those adapted to 

 culture under artificial heat. 



DISCUSSION OF CLASSIFICATIONS 



Very little has been attempted in classification of 

 cucumber varieties. Although an ancient crop and one 

 which has been given considerable attention by horti- 

 cultural writers, its treatment has been almost with- 

 out exception confined to the listing of names or a very 

 brief discussion of varieties. Miller (47) in 1768 men- 

 tioned several sorts, namely the Common, Long Turkey 

 and Long White Prickley and Mawe and Abercrombie 

 (46) listed 8 sorts in 1778; later McMahon (38) in 

 1806 and Lindley i37) in 1831 included short discus- 

 sions of varieties. Naudin (51) divided the crop into 

 4 groups, the small Russians, the ordinary Long Greens, 

 the White cucumbers and the cucumbers of Sikkim. 

 Other than a brief description of each type no further 

 division was made. Fearing Burr, Jr. (9) wrote the 

 first comprehensive account of American vegetable 

 varieties in 1863 and, although 55 varieties were dis- 

 cussed, nearly two-thirds belonged to the English forcing 

 group. Vilmorin-Andrieux (78) the French seedsmen 

 published the first edition of " Les Plantes Potageres " 

 in 1856. This work is analagous to Burr's treatise on 

 vegetable varieties and has gone through several editions. 

 Some 30 varieties of cucumbers are discussed in the 

 edition of 1883. No division is made of the Continental 

 types, but under the discussion of Long Green English, 

 9 or 10 sorts are grouped as most adaptable to forcing. 

 An additional group, ridge cucumbers, those which do 

 fairly well out of doors but better under glass, completes 

 their classification. 



In 1887 the first attempt was made to classify cucum- 

 ber varieties on the basis of morphological characters. 

 After several years trials at this Experiment Station, 

 Goff (19) published an account of 24 varieties, all of 

 which were divided into one of two groups based on 

 color of the fruits when immature, viz., young fruit 

 green and young fruit white or greenish white. 



Waugh and Thompson in an article in Bailey's 

 Cyclopedia of Horticulture, 1914, (6) divided all 

 cucumbers into four general groups, viz., the common 

 cucumber, the Sikkim, the Snake and the West India 

 Gherkin. The first group was further divided into the 

 English forcing type and the field sorts, and the latter 

 again classified as to whether the varieties were black- 

 spined or white-spined. Four black-spined variety 

 groups and two white-spined groups were established. 



A group classification made by Sturtevant (24 1, but 

 not published until 1919 included 6 divisions based on 



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