_Soil._--The soil best adapted to the cultivation of cucumbers in the
open is a light sandy loam, one which responds quickly to temperature
and fertilizer. Such soils are prepared early in the season and thrown
into gentle undulations, so as to produce slight ridges upon which to
plant the seed to insure good surface drainage.
_Fertilizers._--The soil for cucumbers should be made very rich by
the annual application of heavy dressings of stable manure to be
incorporated with the soil. During the time it is not occupied by
cucumbers or lettuce, cowpeas are frequently grown upon the area and
turned under prior to planting a fall crop of lettuce. In addition to
this, liberal applications of a fertilizer carrying a considerable
percentage of nitrogen are employed.
_Planting._--There are almost as many methods of planting cucumbers as
there are growers. Some plant in hills the standard distance of 6 feet
apart each way; others plant in hills 6 feet apart in one direction and
2 or 3 feet apart in the row, while others plant in drills or broad
belts 6 feet apart and chop out the plants to stand about a foot apart
in the row after all danger from insect depredation has ceased. The
methods which seem most economical under the conditions at hand will
of course be adopted by the grower. In outdoor culture the cucumber is
frequently used as a companion crop to other crops, like beans. Beans
being of rapid growth come on quickly and form a partial protection or
wind-break for the young cucumber plants. When arranged in this way,
cucumbers are planted in drills or in hills 6 feet apart and a row of
beans is placed between two rows of cucumbers, a method which insures
a very complete and satisfactory use of the ground. The quick maturity
of the beans allows them to be harvested and entirely removed from the
area before it is required for the cucumbers.
_Harvesting._--Cucumbers intended for pickling purposes are harvested
when they have attained a length of from 2-1/2 to 5 inches. Because
such cucumbers are bought by weight it will readily be seen that
the small-sized pickles are less profitable to the grower than the
larger ones, and in order to secure them before they have attained an
unsalable size it is necessary that the picking be repeated at frequent
intervals, as cucumbers grow rapidly and a delay of twenty-four to
forty-eight hours in harvesting would render many of them unsalable.
It is therefore necessary to have regular intervals to harvest certain
areas of the patch and to continue this routine throughout the bearing
season. Another point which is of prime importance in the management
of the cucumber patch is that none of the fruits be allowed to come
to maturity. The ripening process, which means the development and
maturing of the seeds, produces a heavy strain upon the growing plant,
the life and yield of the plant being in proportion to the number of
fruits which are allowed to ripen. If no fruits are allowed to come
to maturity the plants will remain green and in an active vegetative
condition longer and will produce a much larger aggregate number of
fruits.
_Dill Pickles._--Dill pickles, which are much prized and command the
highest price among pickles, can be made from fresh cucumbers as they
come from the vines, or from vat stock which has been carried for some
time at the salting station.
_Cucumbers Grown in Cold Frames for Market._--Soil for use in cold
frames should be a well-enriched sandy loam of the type of the usual
sandy loam. If it can be dark in color, this is an advantage. If
normally light, the color can be changed by the addition of muck or by
incorporating well-decomposed stable manure with the surface soil. A
dark color is of some advantage in helping to raise the temperature in
the frames under the glass.
_Watering._--Since the glazed sash prevent the soil beneath them being
moistened by natural means--that is, by rain or dew--it is necessary
that means be provided for watering or irrigating the plants. This can
be done by arranging pipes upon the surface of the ground or at a
convenient height overhead, so as not to interfere with cultivation,
from which water can be drawn to sprinkle the surface of the beds
at desired intervals and as the plants may require. The work of
watering should, however, be very carefully done. The same general
precautions necessary for the care of plants in cold frames should be
observed--that is, to do the watering in the morning on bright days
only, when air can be admitted and when the sun will soon dry the
moisture from the leaves of the plants. In this way much can be done to
protect the plants from injury from such diseases as the damping-off
fungus and mildew.
[Illustration: JAPANESE CLIMBING CUCUMBER NEARLY SIX FEET FROM THE
GROUND]
[Illustration: WELL-GROWN CUCUMBERS]
_Ventilation._--Besides the precautions to be observed in watering
plants in cold frames, extreme care is necessary to give the plants
sufficient air to keep them in a healthy condition. If the atmosphere
is allowed to become close and very hot, the plants will be weakened
and thus rendered more susceptible to the attacks of plant diseases.
_Forcing Cucumbers Under Glass._--Forcing is a technical term used
by gardeners to designate the growing of plants out of their normal
season under an artificial environment. The cucumber is one of the
few garden plants which lend themselves to this manner of cultivation
in addition to their more extensive cultivation in the open ground.
Under the stimulus of forcing work, two distinct types of cucumbers
have been developed. These are recognized in the trade as the English
type and the American type. The English type is purely a product of
forcing-house conditions, as the climate of England is not congenial to
the growth and development of the cucumber in the open. The American
type of cucumber is primarily a product of field conditions, and the
few varieties which have been developed to meet the requirements of the
forcing house are simply modifications of the existing field or outdoor
forms. The English type of cucumber is a long, cylindrical, uniformly
green fruit, with few seeds and a very fleshy seed cavity; in fact, the
normal seed cavity of the forced cucumber is almost entirely wanting.
The triangular shape characteristic of the normal outdoor cucumber
has been lost, and the cylindrical outline almost perfected. There is
considerable difference in the size and length of the various English
varieties of cucumbers. The American type of cucumber is primarily
grown in the field, the product to be used either for pickling or for
slicing. Forcing cucumbers in America is confined to those varieties
which produce large fruits suitable for slicing. Only three or four
of the better and larger field varieties are adapted to this purpose.
Notable among these is the White Spine, the Arlington White Spine being
the variety which has been especially developed for forcing. The Long
Green, or a modification of it, is also sometimes used, but aside from
these two varieties there are few that ever find their way into the
forcing house. Such varieties as the Boston Pickling, Chicago Pickling,
and the cluster varieties in general are not adapted to forcing
purposes. The forcing of cucumbers presupposes that an adequate forcing
house or greenhouse is at hand for such work. The chief desideratum in
a forcing house for cucumbers is a maximum amount of light, sufficient
headroom, and adequate radiation to maintain a temperature varying
from 65° to 85° F. The amount of radiation will, of course, depend upon
the style of heating employed, whether steam or hot water, and upon
the location of the greenhouse, whether at the north or the south; the
outside temperature determining to a considerable extent the amount of
radiation required in the house to maintain a given degree of heat.
_Propagation._--There are a number of methods of propagation followed
by successful cucumber growers, all of which have some advantages.
Three of the more common practices are as follows: (1) To plant the
seeds of cucumbers in the soil of the bench where the plants are to
grow and mature; (2) to plant the seeds of the cucumbers in 3-inch or
4-inch pots filled about half full of soil and after the seeds have
germinated and the hypocotyl or stem of the seedling has elongated to
fill the pots well up to the seed leaves with soil; and (3) to plant
the seeds in cups similar to those used for harvesting strawberries,
except that the cups for this purpose are usually made of Georgia pine.
In the first case, where the seeds are planted directly in the soil
on the benches, cucumbers are usually employed as a crop to follow
lettuce, seeds being planted in the lettuce benches before the crop is
entirely removed, heads of lettuce being taken out at proper distances
to allow for the correct spacing of the cucumber plants, and the seeds
of cucumbers planted in the areas so left. In the other two cases the
rearing of the plants for forcing purposes can be carried on in a small
house especially designed for this purpose or in a general propagating
house, thus obviating the necessity of heating and maintaining normal
conditions in the growing house during the period previous to which the
plants begin to run.
_Planting on the Benches._--As soon as the plants show well-developed
runners and are 10 to 12 inches long they should be placed in their
permanent position upon the greenhouse benches. Plants grown in pots
must be carefully removed from these receptacles to the bench, but
those grown in the wooden cups above referred to can be planted, cup
and all, in the soil of the bench. The utmost care should be exercised
to keep the plants of the cucumber growing rapidly at all times. If
cucumbers receive a severe check or are placed under conditions which
are not entirely congenial to them, they are liable to become dwarfed
and stunted, and as soon as vigorous growth ceases they become the prey
of the melon aphis, mildew, and other pests and diseases which are so
annoying to growers of cucumbers under artificial conditions.
_Distance to Plant._--After the plants have attained a height of 10
or 12 inches and are in a vigorous growing condition they should be
placed about 15 or 18 inches apart in single rows upon the side benches
of the greenhouse, which are normally 3-1/2 feet wide, or if planted
on 8-foot benches they should be planted about 10 or 12 inches from
the edge of the bench and 15 to 18 inches apart and parallel with the
edge of the bench. In the broad benches, where more than a double row
can be carried, plants can be set about 18 inches apart and in rows
about 2 feet apart. A satisfactory plan for an 8-foot bench will be
a row parallel with and 10 inches from each edge of the bench and
a double row 18 inches apart through the middle of the bench. It is
well, however, to allow as much space as possible. The cucumber is a
rank-growing plant and many side branches will develop if sufficient
space is allowed.
_Training the Plants._--As soon as the plants show a tendency to run
they should be trained so as to keep them from becoming unduly tangled
and in order to fill all the space upon the trellis. Galvanized wires
No. 16 can be run lengthwise of the house and stapled to the supports,
which should be placed about 6 feet apart. Upon side benches which are
elevated it will be necessary to train the cucumbers to the framework
of the greenhouse. For this purpose screw eyes about 8 inches in
length can be placed in the sash bars at intervals of 4 or 5 feet
and the parallel wires to which the vines are to be tied stretched
12 inches apart lengthwise of the house through these screw eyes and
firmly fastened at the ends. The vines should then be loosely tied to
the supporting wires with raffia or soft cotton yarn. When the fruits
become heavy, as in the case of the English varieties, it will become
necessary to truss them to prevent their weight breaking the vines.
Heavy fruits will cause the supporting wires or bands of raffia to
break or girdle the vines unless they are supported independently.
The American varieties seldom attain sufficient size to require this
precaution. Fruits of these varieties as soon as they are 8 to 10
inches in length and 2 inches in diameter are harvested for market. The
vines are usually sufficiently strong to withstand the weight of fruit
of this size.
_Pollination._--The cucumber, like the other members of the gourd
family to which it belongs, bears two kinds of blossoms on widely
separated parts of the plant. The staminate or nonfruit-bearing flower
is the first to appear and is in general borne near the base of the
plant. The pistillate blossom with the embryo cucumbers at its base
appears later and is borne near the extremity of the newly forming and
rapidly growing shoots. Since these flowers are normally produced in
this way, it is necessary that a transfer of pollen be made from the
staminate to the pistillate flowers throughout the agency of insects
or by other artificial means. Under greenhouse conditions and at the
time of year that the cucumber is forced it is necessary to provide
for pollination. In small establishments this work can be done by
hand. The staminate blossoms are removed, the petals turned back so
as to allow the anthers to project, and the pencil thus produced is
then thrust into the cup of the pistillate flower in such a way as to
distribute pollen upon the stigma of the pistillate flower. In large
establishments where hand pollination is out of the question a colony
of honey bees is placed in each house to accomplish the work.--(F. B.
254, 255; Mass. Ag. Col. E. S. 87; Iowa Ag. Col. E. S. 47.)