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VEGETABLE GARDENING 
great variety of packages is used in handling this crop. 
For local markets, half-bushel hampers are popular and 
several forms of crates, boxes and baskets are in common 
use. For shipping, bushel and half barrel hampers 
(Figure 48) are employed in the large trucking sections 
of the South. In Texas and perhaps in some other 
southern states the crop is often loaded in bulk in stand- 
ard refrigerator cars. A false floor is made of boards and 
2x4 pieces, plenty of space being allowed between the 
boards. Another floor is made about midway between 
the first and the roof of the car, and supported by 2 x 4 
posts. Six hundred bushels may be loaded in a car. They 
generally arrive in the northern markets in first-class 
condition. 
442. Yields and returns. — Yields vary from 100 to 500 
bushels an acre, but 200 half-barrel hampers is consid- 
ered a good crop. Prices range from 50 cents to $2 a 
bushel or hamper. The early picklers are sometimes 
sold on local markets by the dozen, 10 to 25 cents being 
common prices. A return of $300 an acre for slicing 
cucumbers is sometimes obtained, although average re- 
ceipts are much lower. Picklers produce from three to nine 
tons an acre, and the price probably averages $15 a ton. 
443. The Striped Cucumber Beetle (Diabrotica vittata), 
the most destructive insect pest of the cucumber, is 
described by Chittenden as follows : “The beetle meas- 
ures about 2-5 inch in length. Its color is yellow above, 
with black head and elytra longitudinally striped. The 
egg is lemon yellow. The larva is a slender, white, 
wormlike creature, with brown head, anal and thoracic 
plate. When mature it measures about 3-10 inch, this 
being about 10 times its width. The species is indig- 
enous and inhabits the entire eastern United States.” 
The beetles are particularly destructive to the young 
plants, but also feed on the old plants as well as on the 
fruit. The larvse frequently cause heavy losses by work- 
