The Topeka state journal., 1898-09-10
PROFITS IN PICKLES.
Something About Raising This Deli
cious Relish.

ST. Louis, Sept. pt.10.-Judge B. F. Bourn
of Scotland county, late Democratic
candidate for nomination for railroad
and warehouse commissioner, was a
visitor in the city yesterday. He says
many of the farmers in his county are
fairly swamped with the work of gath
ering cucumbers, and find it hard to
secure enough labor.
Cucumber growing is one of the new
industries in this state and is just COM
ing into prominence, and is even now
a matter of no inconsiderable import
ance. So far the field of operations is
confined largely to a few counties in
the northeast corner of the state, and
almost exclusively to the lowlands of
these counties. The farmers make all
the way from $25 to $125 an acre from
the vines, and this year the season has
been so favorable that the profits will
be much larger.
Judge Bourn says that already there
are 20 pickle tanks in Memphis, the
county seat of Scotland, and each of
them has a capacity of 1000 bushels
Only small cucumberS are valuable, the
large ones bringing but a small price
an inch and One-half ring is considered
available for pickles and sells at 40
cents a bUshel. Those of a larger size
bring 10 cents a bushel and are hardly
worth picking.
In Scotland county the cucumber
fields average from two to ten acres to
counties.
notably Clark the industry is carried
on TO a greater extent by individual
farmers. Planting season commences
in June, and six weeks later the vines
commence to bear and continue until
frost or drought kills them. The young
cucumbers grow very rapidly, and un-
der no circumstances can the vines be
neglected longer than two days at a
time, for in that event the cucumberS
will attain too great a size to be valu-
able
The small cucumbers must be cut
with knife, so as not to injure the
vines and impair their future useful
ness. This is task at which children
can earn about as much as men, and
there are no idle youngsters in the GU
cumber-g growing localities.
When the young cucumbers are cut
from the vines they are loaded into
farm wagon like corn and hauled to the
market. There they are weighed and
then ShoVeled into one of the big tanks
and coarse salt is scattered over them.
The juice from the cucumbers and the
salt creates a strong brine, which will
not freeze in the winter and preserves
the young cucumberS for an indefinite
period. Some have been kept for more
than two years in this way before be-
ing prepared for the market
River bottoms are found to be the
most profitable for raising cucumbe
and the largest fields are along the
Mississippi river. The greatest difficult
ty the farmers have to contend with is
securing heIp enough to gather the
young cucumbers before they grow over
size, and accordingly lose in value
There is no trouble about selling them
AS quickly as a wagon load is received,
the farmer gets his money, and 40 cents
a bushel is considered very fair price
One would think that gathering Gu
cumbers was easy work, but it is not so
considered by those who have had ex-
perience. There are sharp stickers on
the cucumbers and they eventually
make the fingers very sore, no matter
how careful one may be. At first the
person picking the cucumbers does not
pay any attention to the stickers, but
about the second day they begin to
make their presence known