GREENHOUSE CUCUMBERS 



93 



ground, which will make for neatness and will keep the vines 

 and fruit from lying on the ground. The upper laterals can 

 be pinched back after the first, second, or third joint, as the 

 individual grower may see fit. It is better, however, to leave 

 more vine than to trim too close, getting thereby a larger 

 crop and a longer-lived vine. It seems to be quite a positive 

 rule that in such varieties as the Abundance, if the lateral is 

 stopped beyond an axil that has a pistillate flower, the first 

 flower on the secondary lateral will be a pistillate flower. If, 

 however, the first lateral is not stopped, there will be six or 

 seven staminate flowers before there is another pistillate 

 blossom. The White Spine type does not follow this rule, 

 but has the flowers more evenly divided as to the sexes. 



Harvesting. 



The picking should be done every morning, but few growers 

 go over the vines that often. Morning is better than evening 

 because then the fruits are fresh and solid and will go on to 

 the market in better shape. Each cucumber should be pick- 

 ed just when it is ready, else if permitted to get overgrown, 

 its market value will be reduced and the vine will be weaken- 

 ed. There seems to be an old-fashioned notion that cucum- 

 bers must be cut from the vine. If, however, one is careful 

 not to jerk or tear the vines, they may be picked off as well 

 as cut, and the work can be done in much less time. The 

 stem should be carefully pushed off rather than to be jerked 

 off. 



Watering. 



Cucumbers need an immense quantity of water, as there 

 is a vast leaf surface to evaporate moisture, and as they 

 grow in the hottest part of the season. Textures of soils vary 

 so greatly that no rule can be laid down as to the quantity 

 to use. Anyone who is contemplating the building of a 

 greenhouse should look very carefully to the water supply. 

 This came to my attention a year ago when we had an ex- 

 ceedingly dry spring. A young man started out and had a 

 good crop of cucumbers, but his well failed him and the crop 

 was a loss. Many growers mulch cucumbers heavily with 

 manure, which serves to hold the moisture in the soil and to 

 leach its plant food down to the roots. The question has 



