CULTURAL DIRECTIONS 
33i 
cultivated in India for at least 3,000 years, hut accord- 
in" to DeCandolle was not introduced into China until 
the second century before Christ. It was first grown in 
England in 1573. Cucumbers were grown by the earliest 
settlers in this country, and the crop has been increasing 
in commercial importance. It is used largely for slicing 
and pickling and to some extent for cooking. The main 
trucking districts of the South regard it as one of their 
standard crops. In some parts of the North it is grown 
on a large scale for pickling. It is second in importance 
of the vegetables produced under glass. 
431. Botany. — The cucumber is an annual, belonging 
to the genus Cucumis and to the family Cucurbitacere. 
The stems are rough, creeping, angular and flexible, 
bearing tendrils and cordate obscurely five-lobed leaves. 
Both staminate and pistillate flowers are produced in 
the axils of the leaves, the staminate appearing first gen- 
erally near the bases of the stems The flowers are large, 
yellow and usually on short peduncles. They require 
the assistance of insects to effect pollination. In green- 
houses this is accomplished by means of bees or by hand 
pollination. There are three types of fruit — the English, 
long and slender, the American, short and thick, and an 
intermediate type, crosses between the first two. 
432. Varieties. — English varieties are not grown in 
this country except to a limited extent in greenhouses. 
The best representatives of the American type are the 
various strains of White Spine which are probably grown 
more largely than all other varieties combined, although 
Davis Perfect, one of the third type, is popular in most 
sections. Several varieties are regarded as especially 
valuable for pickling - . Among them may be mentioned 
Chicago Pickling, Boston Pickling, Fordhook Pickling 
and Everbearing. 
433. Climatic requirements. — The cucumber is grown 
commercially, on a large scale, under a wide range of 
