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GROWING AND MARKETING 
CUCUMBERS 
@ Growing cucumber seed has had our careful Study for over 
40 years. Some years our production of seed has been nearly 
half of that grown in the United States. A very large portion 
of the cucumber Seed of the country is grown here in the 
Rocky Ford district and we come to you for your orders 
knowing that what we have to offer is not surpassed in quality. 
Cucumbers thrive best in a very rich, loamy soil, not con- 
taining too much sand. A rather heavy soil is preferable to 
sandy soil. The most successful 8rowers fertilize heavily 
with barnyard manure, scattered evenly over the surface 2 to 
3 inches deep, disced thoroughly, then plowed under to depth 
of 6 to 8 inches, then thoroughly harrowed and floated. This 
gives an excellent seed bed. 
You can now plant with your garden drill rows 4 feet apart, 
drilling in about 3 pounds of seed per acre, covering the seed 
about 1 inch in depth. You can follow the drill mark and 
cultivate before the plants come up. Cultivate often. When 
the plants have four to six leaves thin to one plant every 18 
inches. Keep the cultivator soing as long as you can get 
through the rows. If under irrigation, water once a week 
lightly and always cultivate between irrigations until the crop 
is laid by. Keep the cucumbers picked off as fast as they 
reach the size desired, as if any are allowed to ripen the 
plants cease to set on more fruit. 
If bothered by the striped cucumber beetle or aphis, dust 
with APHICIDE. See page 88 for information and prices. This 
is a great help for gardeners. 
Be careful not to put too much lime or ashes on the plants, 
as this will injure them. Keep them growing rapidly and 
insects have less chance to damage them. 
In picking to ship for slicing it is a good plan to divide the 
field into thirds and pick one-third each day. If under irriga- 
_ tion, lay off the lands in short rows and run the water along 
the rows very lightly after each picking. 
Always cut off the cucumbers and handle very carefully. 
Do not ship any culls. Throw them away and ship only the 
first-class specimens. They look so much better—the demand 
is kept up—the consumer is willing to pay a _ better price. 
There is less express and package expense and your reputa- 
tion for a first-class pack is kept up, to the advantage of your 
bank account. 
When the market is high, many are tempted to ship seconds. 
_ Don’t do it; keep the market up with quality. 
See page 45 for discussion concerning the mixing of cu- 
cumber and other cucurbits. 
WHAT IS NEW IN CUCUMBERS? 
SLICING VARIETIES 
Styles of cucumbers for shipping have changed rapidly. New 
sorts are being developed that carry their very dark green 
color well around the tip or blossom end of the fruit, and the 
pale stripes more or less eliminated. Advantage of these very 
dark green sorts is better appearance on the markets. Dis- 
advantage being that usually mildness is sacrificed and fruits 
more inclined to be bitter. Even with this disadvantage, the 
tendency of shippers is to plant these very dark green vari- 
eties. This class includes A. & C., Colorado and Ace which 
are all practically the same although there is some variation 
in stocks. Taxpayer is a new, very dark green type of Early, 
Fortune. Straight-8 is a well bred, early variety and a very 
heavy yielder. Our new stock of Black Diamond has been 
developed along these lines and can be included with these 
new sorts. Deltus and Longfellow were probably the first of 
these very dark green sorts to attain widespread popularity. 
Deltus, contrary to others of this type, is very mild. 
Of the milder but lighter colored varieties, Burrell’s Harliest 
of All, Early Fortune and Clark’s Special are popular. Chinese 
Evergreen is claimed by some to be resistant to Mosaic. We 
would like to hear from Associations and large shippers giv- 
ing a list of requirements for special quotation. We are well 
equipped to take care of your requirements. 
(Continued on page 26) 

See page 90 for Special Prices to Market Growers 25 
