220 



VEGETABLE GARDENING. 



the ground is warm, say from the middle to the last of May. 

 but it may be planted with good results as late as the middle of 

 June. It is quite customary to furrow out the land six leet 

 apart one way, mark crcssways of the furrows with a six foot 

 marker, and put a shovelful of well rotted manure or compost 

 in each intersection. Cover this manure with soil and plant the 

 cucumber seed. Of course, when the land is in the best condition, 

 it is not necessary to put manure in the hills; in such cases, all 

 that is necessary is to mark out both ways and plant at the 

 intersections. About ten or a dozen seeds should be put in 

 each hill and covered about one inch deep, and the soil packed 

 ovei the seeds. As soon as the plants are up, and after each rain, 

 they should have the soil loosened around them They shouJd 

 also be kept dusted until well established with Paris green, land 

 plaster or some other dust, to keep off the striped beetles, which 

 are often very troublesome and may destroy the plants when 

 they are small unless preventive measures are used. (See 

 chapter on insects.) The land should be cultivated both ways 

 until the vines prevent it, so that very litle work will have to be 

 done by hand. About tnree good plants are enough for each 

 hill, and the rest should be removed after the danger from serious 

 insect injuries has passed. 



Gathering the Crop. — If for table use or for marketing in a 

 green state, the cucumbers are gathered when full grown but still 

 green; if for pickles, the cucumbers are gathered as soon as of 

 the required size, which is generally when they are about three 

 inches long. Some factories put up larger and some smaller 

 pickles than this size. To gather them of just the right size 

 requires that the w^hole bed be picked over about once in two 

 days. This is a matter of much labor and is generally paid for by 

 the piece. No cucumbers should be allowed to go to seed if pickles 

 or table cucumbers are wanted, for as soon as seed is ripened the 

 plants commence to die off, while if constantly gathered when 

 green and not allowed to ripen, the plants will continue bearing 

 a long time. In the vicinity of pickling factories, cucumbers for 

 pickles are often raised in large quantities as a farm crop and 

 are contracted for at a specified price per thousand or per hun- 

 dred pounds, for the season. For home use or for storing and 



