THE CUCUMBER. 169 



smooth, soft, but tough white paper, which will admit of 

 being tucked between the head and the leaves without 

 tearing. The heads should be packed evenly and snugly 

 in layers in barrels or crates, as the case may be. Each 

 layer may be separated from the other by a piece of brown 

 paper; if a barrel is used, the package should be thor- 

 oughly ventilated. During cool weather, cauliflower 

 may be safely shipped in barrels or barrel crates; but as 

 soon as the weather becomes warm, the usual bushel 

 crate is better, as affording a smaller mass of material to 

 engender heat. In New York and Philadelphia, cauli- 

 flower is sold by the package, and in Boston by the 

 dozen. 



INSECTS. 



Insects infest the cauliflower and cabbage alike, and 

 the remedies are the same in each case. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



THE CUCUMBER (Cucumis sativus.) 



C&ucombre, French; Gurke, German; Eomkommer, Dutch; Citrindlo y 

 Italian ; Pepino or Cohombro, Spanish. 



The Cucumber is one of the earliest known vegetables. 

 Moses mentions it as abundant in Egypt. "We remem- 

 ber the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cu- 

 cumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, 

 and the garlic." Numbers xi:5. 



A native of the East Indies, it was introduced into 

 England in 1573. By means of thin plates of talc or 

 mica (specularia plates of lapis specularis), Pliny tells 

 8 



