CUCUMBER. MELON. PUMPKIN. SQUASH 1 29 



(1,742 to the acre), and cultivated both ways until 

 the vines cover the ground. One ounce of seed will 

 plant about fifty hills ; about two pounds to the acre. 

 Sowings or successional sowings may be made as 

 late as early July in the North ; in fact, pickle grow- 

 ers sometimes plant late on purpose — to escape the 

 worst of the bug attack. Chicago Pickle, Everbear- 

 ing, Early Frame, etc., are good pickling varieties. A 

 small prickly kind called a gherkin is sometimes 

 grown. The crop is gathered in burlap bags and 

 sold by the bushel or the hundred pounds to pickle 

 factories, who usually make contracts in advance. 

 Only pickles of a certain specified size are wanted 

 (usually three or four inches in length, sometimes 

 smaller). Pickers must be hired, for the crop should 

 be picked regularly, systematically and often ; for if 

 any of the cucumbers are allowed to grow large and 

 mature seeds, the production of the vine soon stops 

 (this rule applies to all cucumbers, and to some other 

 things) . 



Cucumbers for table use may be planted the same 

 as pickles, but are usually planted early because 

 wanted early. For one-way gardeii culture I like to 

 have the rows six feet apart, and hills about four feet 

 apart in the row. White Spine is an excellent large 

 variety. For market, cucumbers should be full size, 

 green and not too ripe, and graded as to size. One- 

 third-barrel round veneer baskets are often used as 

 a shipping package in the East. (Table cucumbers 

 are sometimes forced in greenhouses in the winter ; 

 consult Farmers' Bulletin No. 254.) 



A hint for the boys : Without detaching it from 

 the vine, slip a small cucumber into a fair-sized bot- 

 tle, and after it grows so as to fill the space cut it 

 from the vine. Folks will wonder how it got there. 



