THE TIM BUNKER PAPERS. 259 



&quot; When I raise for nothing but pickles, I plant about the 

 last week in June.&quot; 



&quot; Suppose it is a dry time. What then ? &quot; 



&quot; I give the manure a good soaking. It is pretty im 

 portant to have the seed come right up. You see, the 

 cowcumber is of such a nature that if it gets sot, it is of 

 no use to try to start em. You must push em right along.&quot; 



&quot; And what variety do you plant ? &quot; 



&quot; We ain t got any pertikelar name for em. They ain t 

 Clusters, nor London Greens, nor Russians. I guess they 

 are a sort of mixture, for every man raises his own seed.&quot; 



&quot; Is there any particular knack in doing that ? &quot; 



&quot; Yes, there is. More n half the battle lies in raising 

 the seed. I tried some seed I got in the city once, and 

 didn t have any luck at all. It won t do to take the odds 

 and ends for seed. If you want a lot of pot-bellies and 

 nubbins, plant the seed of such, and you ll get em. I 

 generally take the cucumbers that grow on the second and 

 third joint, and let them ripen for seed, and don t allow 

 any body else to see em. I put em where I can find em 

 in the summer.&quot; 



&quot; How many do you have in a hill ? &quot; 



&quot; I plant from five to ten, and thin out at hoeing time 

 to five or six.&quot; 



&quot; How many times do you hoe ? &quot; 



&quot; I cultivate and hoe but once, and it is pretty import 

 ant that that should be done at just the right time. A 

 day too late makes a great deal of extra work. I run a 

 plow about three times between the rows just before the 

 vines fall over and begin to run, then dress out with a hoe.&quot; 



But I see that I can t tell you all that Uncle Diah said 

 in this letter, and if your readers teeth are not all set on 

 edge, next month I ll give em some more pickles. 

 Yours to command, 



TIMOTHY BUNKER, ESQ., 



Hookertown, Jan. 5th, 1865. 



