The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1876-05-26
THE FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.
Raising Early Cucumbers.

In gardening, it is emphatically true that
s'the early bid catches the worm" With
most vegetables the profit is made from the
early marketed. With cucumbers this is SO
in greater degree than with any vegetable
with which / am acquainted Those first
sold are in quick demand at from So to IS
per hundred, whereas they soon fall to from
80 to so cents, and have little demand at that.
Of late years. since we have had TO compete
perceptibly decreased. Before we can sell
any, the market is glutted with these South
ern vegetables. Happily for us, however,
there is class of people who will not eat
these yellow, tough, spongy, and stale veg
etables at any price, but are ever greedy to
buy fresh vegetables. With cucumbers, as
with many other vegetables, most people
soon tire, SO that it is only for couple of
weeks that there is any profit in them. II
now we can anticipate others, we shall be
well paid for our trouble. In fact, from those
planted in the open ground we find no profit
whatever.
About the middle of April cut scds from
an old pasture, six inches square and three
thick, and place these, grass side down, in a
cold-frame or bottled. from which cabbage
orlettuce plants have been removed. In the
centre of each sod plant eight or ten seeds;
cover them with an inch of rich soil and put
on the ashes. Water every few days. In a
week the plants will appear. Now give them
plenty Of afr; on warm days strip the sash
entirely of. This is to keep them from grow
ing tender and spndling and enables them
better to stand the change when transferred
to the open ground. As soon as the rough
leaf appears, thin out three in sod. About
the middle of May plough the GROUND and
mark it off in check rows three feet apart
each way, and on each intersection place a
shovelful of well-rotted compost. Now care
fully, take up the sods, place them in wag-
on, and from thence transfer them to the ma
nuIed hills in every other row. In the other
rows plant Lima beans or sweet corn, as the
cucumbers will do better if slightly shaded,
and the beans will do better if they have
plenty of room. In this way think that on
one acre can grow as many cucumbers and
Lima beans as l could on an acre and half
with each planted separately. The remain
der of the work can now be done with hoe
and plough. The cucumbers are out of the
way Of the striped bug, and soon begin to
run, thus entailing less cultivation than if
planted in the old way; so that, all things
considered. the labor is but a little more
They are fit to market at least to weeks soon
er. ffsH r- r--tr
have started them on a slight hot-bed
without glass covering with boards or old car
pets at night, putting frame around them
SO that the board would not touch the plants.
This is good way to start Lima beans and
melons also. These sods are much better to
prick tomatoes in than pots or boxes, being
much cheaper. This method is much better
Manipulating in hills and protecting with
hand frames. never could see how SHOW
elful of manure under hill could impart heat
to the plant above, for we must have body
enough to cause fermentation before we can
have heat. Fresh manure under the plant is
positive injury, as it dries out the soil
above. When the hills are covered we must
go round and remove every frame to water or
air, while it is much easier to attend to that
matter when the plants are all in body. A
cheaper and better method than these frames
is to make the hills in the same manner, then
take a four inch flower pot and place it on
the hill, draw earth around it, give it turn
and draw it out, plant your seeds in the bot.
tom of the hole and place glass over the
top; when the plants reach the glass, place
small stone under each corner. When they
again reach the glass remove it.-Cor. N. Y.
Tribune. fffl 4tt