406 



cue 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL ; 



C U N 



to cultivate in England, are those with small sound fruit 

 which come from Astracan ; those which have large fruit 

 seldom ripen in this climate. First procure the seeds three 

 or four years old ; prepare a heap of new dung in the begin- 

 ning of February, which should be thrown in a heap for 

 about twelve days to heat, turning it over twice, mixing it 

 well ; then make a hot-bed, in which those seeds and also 

 Cucumber and Musk-Melon seeds may be sown : the dung 

 should be well wrought in making the bed, and should be 

 beaten down pretty close with a dung-fork, that the heat 

 may not be too violent, but of longer continuance : when the 

 dung is thus laid, cover it about four inches thick with 

 a good light earth ; and, having spread it very even, put the 

 frame and glass over it, leaving it to warm four or five days 

 before the seed be sown, and observing, if much steam arise, 

 to raise the glass that it may pass off. When the bed is in 

 proper temper, sow the seeds in drills, covering them over 

 with about half an inch of earth ; after this, if you find the 

 bed very warm, air must be admitted by raising the glasses 

 in the day-time ; but if the bed be cool, cover it well with 

 mats in cold or wet weather, and every night. In four or 

 five days' time another hot-bed must be prepared to receive 

 these plants, which will be fit to transplant in ten days, or at 

 farthest in a fortnight, after the seeds are sown. This second 

 bed need not be very large, for a few of these plants, when 

 planted out, will fill a large quantity of frames ; and while 

 they are young, the same quantity may be kept in one light, 

 so that those persons who raise early Cucumbers and Musk- 

 Melons, may also raise these plants in the same bed, for two 

 or three lights will be sufficient to raise plants of all the three 

 kinds to supply the largest families, until they are planted 

 out to remain. In the management of these plants while 

 young, there is little difference from the directions given for 

 raising Musk-Melons, which need not be repeated here. (See 

 p. 398, &c.) The chief thing to be observed is, tolet them have a 

 large share of air wheneverthe weather will permit, otherwise 

 the plants will draw up weak, and be good for little. As they 

 will require two or three hot-beds to bring the fruit to per- 

 fection, it will be the better way to put the plants into 

 baskets, when they have put forth four leaves, two in each 

 basket will be sufficient, for when both plants succeed, the 

 weakest must be drawn out, which must be done before they 

 put out their side-shoots, otherwise they will entangle, and 

 then one can hardly be removed without seriously injuring 

 the other. The baskets need only be twelve inches in dia 

 meter, so that one light will contain twenty-four of them, 

 which will be sufficient to stock twenty-four others when 

 they are planted out to remain; for where they are vigorous, 

 a single plant will spread so far as to cover three lights, 

 which they must be allowed to do, as they seldom set their 

 fruit well when restrained from spreading : the baskets may 

 remain in the nursery-bed until the plants have spread and 

 put out many runners ; for when the heat of the bed declines, 

 it is soon revived by adding a proper lining of warm dung 

 quite round the sides of the bed ; so that when the plants 

 are taken out and planted in the ridges where they are to 

 remain, the heat of the beds will last so long as to set their 

 fruit ; which is of great consequence, for when the plants are 

 ridged out very young, the beds are generally made of great 

 thickness in dung in order to continue their heat, so that for 

 some time after they are made, they are so extremely hot as 

 to endanger the scalding of the plants ; and by the time the 

 fruit begins to appear, there is little heat left in the beds, 

 which olten causes the fruit to drop off, and come to nothing 

 After these plants are placed in the beds where they arc to 

 remain, carefully lead the shoots as they are produced, so as 



,0 fill each part of the frame, but not to crowd each other ; 

 and be careful to keep them clear from weeds, nnd also to 

 admit fresh air whenever the weather will permit, and to 

 water them, but only in small quantities. In short, there is 

 ittle difference to be observed in the management of these 

 rotn that of Musk-Melons, except that they require more 

 room,. 



Cudweed. See Athanasia, Filago, and Gnaphalium. 

 Cuminum ; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Digynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : umbel universal and 

 partial, often four-parted ; involucre universal of as many 

 leaves, which are very long, perfectly entire, but in some 

 three-cleft ; partial similar ; perianth proper scarcely mani- 

 fest ; florets all fertile. Corolla : universal uniform ; proper 

 of five petals, inflex-emarginate, somewhat unequal. Sta- 

 mina : h'lamenta five, simple ; antherae simple. Pistil : ger- 

 men ovate, larger than the flower, inferior ; styles two, very 

 small ; stigmas simple. Pericarp : none ; fruit ovate, stri- 

 ated. Seeds : two, ovate, striated on one side and convex, 

 on the other flat. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Involucres : 



four-cleft. Uni belittles : four. Fruits: ovate, striated. 



The only known species is, 



1. Cuminum Cyminum; Cumin. Root annual, round, 

 scarcely branched. Stem a palm in height ; leaves divided 

 into long narrow segments like those of Fennel, but much 

 smaller, of a deep green, and generally turned back at the 

 end ; peduncles opposite to the leaves, spreading the length 

 of the internodes ; rays of the umbel from four to six, nearly 

 equal, spreading the third of an inch in length ; corollas 

 purplish, or pale blush-colour, rayed ; fruit oblong, thicker in 

 the middle, the same size as those of Fennel, and aromatic ; 

 seeds convex on one side, on which are nine streaks, with 

 minute bristles scattered over it, the other side is flat. The 

 seeds are kept in the shops, and have a very disagreeable fla- 

 vour, but possess considerable virtues, beingexcellent against 

 the colic, and wind in the stomach : bruised, and externally 

 applied in the form of a plaster, they will frequently remove 

 stitches, and other pains in the sides and breast ; a large 

 quantity of them must be laid on, when used in the latter 

 case. This plant flowers in June and July ; and is a native 

 of Egypt ; cultivated in the south of Europe, and all over 

 Lesser Asia. It is also commonly sold in Malta, where they 

 call it cumino aigro, hot cumin, to distinguish it from anise, 

 which they term cumino dolce, or sweet cumin. If the seeds 

 of this plant be sown in small pots, filled with light kitchen- 

 garden earth, and plunged into a very moderate hot-bed to 

 bring up the plants, and these, after having been gradually 

 inured to the open air, turned out of the pots, and planted 

 in a warm border of good earth, preserving the balls of earth 

 which adhered to their roots in the pots, and afterwards taking 

 care to keep them clean from weeds, the plants will flower 

 pretty well, and by thus being brought forward in the spring, 

 will probably perfect their seeds when the season happens 

 to be very warm. 



Cunila ; a genus of the class Diandria, order Monogynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one-leafed, 

 cylindric, permanent, ten-streaked ; mouth somewhat lipped, 

 five-toothed, permanent. Corolla : one-petalled, ringent ; 

 upper lip erect, flat, emarginate ; lower lip three-parted ; 

 divisions rounded, middle one emarginate. Stamina .- fila- 

 menta two, filiform, and two rudimentsof filamenta ; anther* 

 roundish, twin. Pistil : germen four-parted ; style filiform, 

 length of the stamina; stigma two-cleft, sharp. Pericarp: 

 none ; calix with its throat closed with shaggy hairs. Seeds : 

 four, oval, minute. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Corolla : 

 ringent ; upper lip erect, flat. Filamenta : two, barren 



