CULTURAL DIRECTIONS 
335 
planted in check rows, three or four plants in a hill, the 
cultivator can be used in both directions. This mate- 
rially reduces the expense of tillage. In recent years 
the drill system of planting has become popular in prom- 
inent trucking sections. The seeds are usually sown 
with a drill and the plants thinned to a foot or more apart. 
This system is probably more favorable to the develop 
ment of each individual plant ; there is less interference 
of roots as well as vines than when planted in hills, and 
power sprayers can be used to better advantage. 
The young plants are not only tender to frost, but 
cold winds greatly retard their growth. To overcome 
this difficulty the rows are sometimes alternated with 
bush beans. The protection thus afforded to the cucum- 
ber is of great value. Another plan is to sow rye in the 
fall, and in the spring prepare and plant strips of the 
required width ; the remaining areas of rye may be cut 
and the ground cultivated when the weather becomes 
warmer and when there is no need of further protection. 
440. Cultivation. — Tillage should be continued as late 
in the season as possible without injury to the vines. The 
use of broad hoes in the rows and some hand weeding 
S.re often necessary to keep the fields clean. 
441. Marketing. — Cucumbers for slicing should be not 
less than 6 inches long when picked and all specimens 
removed before they begin to turn white or yellow. 
Yellow ripe cucumbers are in demand by foreigners 
for eating raw and for cooking like squash. Picklers 
are gathered when of the size desired. Gathering is 
the heaviest expense connected with the crop. The 
small cucumbers are hard to see and large forces of chil- 
dren cannot be trusted to do the work. The fields are 
looked over two or three times a week in order to find 
the picklers before they become too large. Frequent 
harvesting is also necessary for slicing cucumbers. 
Grading is necessary to secure the best returns. A 
