98 



THE VEGETABLES OF NEW YORK 



Fruit moderately short and medium plump, 6'_>-7 x 2 , 4 -2 1 _i 

 inches. Shape short oval, straight; base rounded, medial slightly 

 swollen; apex rounded. Cross-section circular at the base, triangular 

 at medial and near apex. Color moderately dark green, tinted with 

 yellowish white at apex; tip stripes medium prominent and extend 

 one-quarter to one-third the length of fruit. Tubercles few and 

 obscure. Spines white. Flesh medium thick, crisp and greenish 

 white in color. Seed mass medium large, with distinct cavity at 

 center. 



Early Beauty. Refs. 41, 43, 52, 75. Syns. Early 

 Express, Express Extra Early, Tempey's Express 

 Pickler. 



This was first offered by John Lewis Childs, Floral 

 Park, New York, in 1899 as a sport from Siberian. In 

 1902 the Iowa Seed Co. introduced Early Express which 

 had originated with C. P. Coy. The two varieties seem 

 to have been quite similar if the descriptions in the 

 catalogs are correct. (Some years later De Giorgi of 

 Council Bluffs, Iowa, offered a new sort which he called 

 Early Express, but which apparently differed from the 

 earlier variety of the same name.) 



Early Beauty was about the same size as Early 

 Frame, somewhat less triangular in cross-section, lighter 

 green in color, and was white-spined instead of black. 



Fruit moderately short and moderately slender, 6-7 x 2-2 '4 

 inches. Shape oval, straight, symmetrical; base and apex rounded, 

 medial even to very slightly swollen. Cross-section circular at 

 base, and slightly triangular at medial and apex. Color medium 

 bright green, gradually blending into nearly white at apex; tip 

 stripes moderately broad and prominent, extending one-third to one- 

 half the length of the fruit. Spines white. 



Early Cluster. Refs. 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 15, 18, 19, 21, 25, 



46, 48, 49, 50, 53, 56, 57, 58, 62, 65, 72, 75, 79, 



80, 82. Syns. Cluster, Early Cluster Prickley, 



Early Green Cluster, Green Cluster, Improved 



Early Green Cluster, Table Queen. 



This type is one of the oldest of all cultivated 



cucumbers. It is mentioned in all of the old lists, that of 



Mawe and Abercrombie in 1778: McMahon, 1806; Fes- 



senden, 1828; Bridgemen, 1857; and Burr in 1863. The 



latter in describing it says, " A very popular early 



cucumber producing fruit in clusters near the root of the 



plant." Goff (19) writing in 1887 says " In the true 



Early Cluster, the fruits are literally produced in clusters, 



three or more appearing at the same node; but judging 



from the samples tested, this quality seems to have been 



largely lost." The name Early Green Cluster seems to 



have been used at first but Early Cluster has been the 



accepted name during the last century. 



Fruit short and medium plump, 5-6 x 2 1 4 -2 1 £ inches. Shape 

 oblong angular, straight; base rounded and full; medial slightly 

 swollen; apex rounded. Cross-section slightly triangular at base 

 and distinctly triangular at medial and apex; color rather light 

 green, tinted with pale yellowish white at apex; tip stripes narrow, 

 rather prominent, greenish yellow in color and extend one-quarter to 

 one-third the length of the fruit. Tubercles many, moderately 

 prominent. Spines black. Flesh thin, rather tough, white with 

 very slight tinge of green. Seed mass very large and solid. 



Pickles rounded at the base, even at medial and slightly taper- 

 ing at the apex; cross-section distinctly triangular; color rather 

 light green, distinctly light at apex. 



Early Cyclone. Refs. 57, 75. Syns. Cyclone, White 

 Cluster. 



Early Cyclone originated with Chauncey P. Coy of 

 Waterloo, Nebraska, and was introduced in 1900 by 

 Johnson & Stokes of Philadelphia. The name Cyclone 

 was used to indicate the rapid growing tendency of the 

 variety and in this respect it resembled Earliest of All. 

 The fruits were about as long as those of Early Russian, 

 but differed from that variety in being slightly more 

 plump, smoother, white spined, and in having whiter 

 flesh and a less solid seed mass. 



Fruit very short and medium plump, 3 J 2-4 x 2 1 4-2 1 2 inches. 

 Shape short oval, straight; slightly larger at rounded base, even at 

 medial, and very slightly tapering to a rounded apex. Cross-section 

 circular at base, slightly triangular at medial and apex. Color 

 medium green, tinted greenish white at apex and rather prominently 

 marked with narrow, greenish white tip stripes which extend one- 

 third or more the length of the fruit; as fruit approaches maturity it 

 becomes nearly white. Tubercles few, small, not very prominent. 

 Spines white. Flesh moderately thin, white in color. Seed mass 

 large, with triangular cavity present at center. 



Early Fortune. Refs. 22, 57. Syn. Special Dark Green. 



The name Early Fortune was first used sometime 

 previous to 1906 by J. Bolgiano & Son of Baltimore. 

 The name was applied to a selection described as " the 

 earliest and best White Spine Cucumber ever offered." 

 Another strain which also received the name Early 

 Fortune was selected by George Starr at Royal Oak, 

 Michigan, in 1906 from a single plant found in a crop of 

 Davis Perfect. This became the parent stock for the 

 Early Fortune introduced by Jerome B. Rice Seed Co., 

 Cambridge, New York, about 1910, and has continued to 

 represent the type as known today. 



The fruits of Early Fortune are slightly shorter than 

 those of Davis Perfect, much more abruptly tapered to 

 rounded at the base, more circular in cross-section and 

 have less prominent tubercles. 



Fruits medium long and moderately slender, 8-9 x 2-2 ] 4 inches. 

 Shape unevenly fusiform, very slightly tapering to rounded at the 

 base; medial slightly swollen; apex long tapered. Cross-section 

 circular at base and medial, slightly triangular at apex. Color 

 dark green, rather prominently marked with narrow greenish yellow 

 stripes at the apex, which extend one-quarter to one-third the 

 length of the fruit. Tubercles moderately many, rather obscure. 

 Spines white. Flesh medium thick, crisp and nearly white in color. 

 Seed mass medium large and solid. 



Early Frame. Refs. 3, 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 15, 18, 19, 21, 



25, 50, 55, 56, 57, 58, 70, 72, 75, 79, 80. Syns. 



Early Frame Short Green, Early Prolific Short 



Green, Early Short Green, Early Short Prolific, 



Extra Early Frame, Short Green. 

 As one of the earliest maturing sorts this variety has 

 been grown in American gardens at least since 1806 at 

 which time McMahon included it in his Gardeners' 

 Catalog. About the middle of the 19th century the 

 name Short Green became associated with the type, and, 

 although at the time was considered distinct by some, the 

 two were soon cataloged as synonymous. Short Green 

 Prickley may have been the prototype from which Early 

 Frame or Short Green evolved. The fruits of Short 



