Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 February 1910 — THRASHING THE CUCUMBER. [ARTICLE]

THRASHING THE CUCUMBER.

Raiain* Ve*e*able for Seed Under New Conditions Profltable. In western Kansas and eastern Colorado, says the Star of Kansas City, where most vine crops grow to perfection on the Irrigated lands, hundreds of acres of cucumbers, cantaloupes and Watermelons are reserved for seed by seed companies and by farmers who grow them for the seed houses. It is a common sight from October to Dec. 1 to see the seed thrashers in the fields of cucumbers and melons thrashing them foiTthelr seed. The growing of cucumbers for seed is considered very profitable, and often the owners clear from SIOO to $l5O an acre, as the seed brings $1 to $2 a pound. While the cucumbers might be sold to canning factories, many farmers prefer to let them remain for the qeed, as the expense of gathering la not so great, the income an acxe being about as much. The thrashing costs a reasonable amount. The cucumbers are grow* in rows six feet apart both ways, and the seeds are planted the last of April or the first of May. After the plants come through the ground ""they are hoed and irrigated, the furrows for the water running lengthwise with the rows and close to the hills. A cultivator is usefl to stir the soil and keep it mellow until the vines are running well between the rows, Wien the cultivation ceases. The are left to grow until the latter part of September, when they are gathered and piled for thrashing. About five rows of cucumbers are piled together. The cucumber thrasher is built on a wagonlike frame, supported by great wide wheels and drawn by-two horses. At the rear of the machine is stationed a little two-horse gasoline engine which operates the machinery of the thrasher. Just in. front of the engine is the crusher that looks like a common cider mill. It contains two iron rollers, moving together and crushing the cucumbers as they pass between. Against the crusher sits the framework containing the seeder. The cucumbers pass from the crusher into this large cylindrical seeder, whidh sits horizontally; The outer surface of the seeder is a wire netting with meshes large enough to permit the seed to drop through into the vat below, but retaining the crushed cucumbers. The front end of the cylinder being lower than the rear, the cucumbers are rolled slowly forward by its revolutions until they drop out at the horses’ heels. _ When the vat beneath the cylinder is filled with seed a seed box is drawn on a low - sled to the opening at the side of the machine, and the sewb are allowed ’to run out a spout into it The thrashing proceeds and the seed is hauled away to a place where it is thoroughly washed from all foreign matter and spread out on screening wire enclosed in frames to dry.