cue 



cue 



103 



milk, every one knows that but 

 little creann will be gotten from it. 

 The time of skimming must be re- 

 gulated by the weather and other 

 circumstances : But nearly the 

 whole will rise to the top in twen- 

 ty-four hours. In large dairies it 

 may be troublesome to let it stand 

 longer. 



Milk may be advantageously set 

 in pans placed on a floor, covered 

 to a small depth with spring wa- 

 ter, which is practised in Pennsyl- 

 vania. 



Some set their milk in trays lin- 

 ed with lead. This should never 

 be done. For the least acidity in 

 the milk will dissolve the lead, and 

 poison the milk. Tin pans are 

 good, being light and handy, and 

 wooden trays answer very well, if 

 kept sweet. 



CUCUMBERS, Cucumis, a cold 

 fruit, which is pleasant to the taste 

 of most people, and much used by 

 those who find themselves able to 

 digest them. They are rendered 

 wholesomer by pickling. 



The method of growing them is 

 simple and easy. They should not 

 be planted till after Indian corn : 

 For the least degree of frost en- 

 tirely destroys them. The dung 

 of swine should be put under them, 

 which makes them grow more ra- 

 pidly than any other manure which 

 I have ever tried. 



Some steep the seeds, and cause 

 them to sprout, before they are 

 planted : But 1 have never found 

 any advantage in it. It is not 

 amiss, however, to wet them a lit- 

 tle, and coat them with powdered 

 soot. 



Mr. Miller thinks the seeds 



should not be sown till they are 

 three or four years old. Four 

 plants are enough to stand in a hole 

 together ; therefore, when they 

 get into rough leaf, they should be 

 thinned to this number. The vines 

 should be so conducted as to inter- 

 fere as little as possible with each 

 other. They who wish to raise 

 them at all seasons of the year,may 

 consult the Gardener'' s Dictionary, 



The following directions for stop- 

 ping or topping cucumbers,melons, 

 &c. are taken in substance, from 

 The American Gardener's Calen- 

 dar. 



The young plants should be stop- 

 ped or topped at the first joint, by 

 pruning olTthetop of the first run- 

 ner bud. This operation should 

 be performed when the plants have 

 two rough leaves, and when the 

 second is about an inch broad, hav- 

 ing the first runner bud rising at 

 its base ; the sooner this is de- 

 tached, the sooner the plants ac- 

 quire strength, and put out fruitful 

 runners. 



You will see arising in the cen- 

 tre of the plant, at the bottom of 

 the second rough leaf, the end of 

 the first runner, like a small bud ; 

 which bud or runner, being the ad- 

 vancing top of the plant, is now to 

 be taken off close,and may be done 

 either with the point of a pen-knife 

 or small scissors, or pinched off 

 carefully with the finger and thumb, 

 being careful not to go so close as- 

 to wound the joint from whence it 

 proceeds. In ten or twelve days, 

 each plant will begin to send forth 

 two or three runners ; which run- 

 ners will probably show fruit at its 

 first, second, or third joints •, for if 



