cue 



CUL 



a bank two feet wide and a foot high | 

 against the back of the frame. Give 

 the plants air whenever an opportu- 

 nity offers. Water in the morning. 

 Sometimes water in which guano or 

 bird dung has been steeped is used. 

 As the roots enlarge, add fresh, good 

 mould. i 



Stop the growth of the stems by- 

 pinching off the buds at two joints, 

 and in this way keep stopping the 

 lateral shoots : this strengthens the 

 plant and causes it to perfect fruit 

 early. Mind that some female flow- i 

 ers are left, or such as have solid 

 swellings under the blossom, for these 

 only bear fruit. Abercrombie thinks 

 it advisable to pluck the male blos- 

 som and shake it over the female, for 

 the purpose of securing a fall of pol- | 

 len or farina. The fruit is tit to cut 

 16 to 20 days after setting, and by ; 

 care may be obtained in succession 

 for two months. [ 



Common Cultivation. — Sow in May 

 in slight hollows, four feet apart ; 

 manure the seed beds well with rot- 

 ten dung : eight or nine seed to the 

 hill. Leave three plants in the hill ; 

 hoe and earth up ; cut away weeds ; 

 a little water in dry weather does 

 good. The soil should be light and 

 mellow. Pickling cucumbers may be 

 planted in July. Select the finest for 

 seed. The fruit is sometimes made 

 to grow in cylindrical moulds of pot- 

 tery. 



Insects injurious to the Cucumber, 

 Melon, (^c. — The striped bug. Gale- 

 ruca vilata. It eats the young foliage 

 and flowers ; it is yellow, striped with 

 black. 



The Flea Beetle. Haltica pubesccns. 

 A small, black, active coleopterous in- 

 sect, which destroys the small plants. 



The Squash Bug. Coreus tristis. A 

 large angular hemipterous insect with 

 brown upper wings and orange belly, 

 collecting in groups under the fruit, 

 and destroying the leaves and fruit 

 of all tiie cultivated cucurlitacea. 



The black Worm. The larva of a 

 coccinella ; it cuts down the young 

 plants, and can only be caught in the 

 morning, as it retires into the earth 

 during the heat of the day. 



Several species of aphis annoy the 

 plants. The large insects must be 

 caught in nets or with the hand ; soot, 

 tobacco water, solution of whale oil 

 soap ; infusion of wormwood, May- 

 weed, pennyroyal ; and slacked lime, 

 are all used with advantage. Placing 

 hens or turkeys with young broods in 

 a coop, and allowing the chickens to 

 run among the vines, is an admirable 

 expedient. All the foregoing insects 

 infest melons, cucumbers, and squash- 

 es also. 



CUCUMBER-TREE. Some mag- 

 nolias are so called. 



CUCU.MIS. The generic name of 

 the cucumber, melon, &c. 



CUCURBITACE-E. A family of 

 plants, mostly vines, monoecious, with 

 inferior fruit, inhabiting warm coun- 

 tries. The melon, pumpkin, cucum- 

 ber, gourd, squash, colocynlh, and bry- 

 ony are common examples. 



CUD. In cattle, the food in the 

 first stomach, which is to be chewed 

 over again and passed into the third 

 to be digested. 



CULEX. A genus of insects in- 

 cluding the gnat (C. pipiens) and sim- 

 ilar creatures : it is the type of the 

 Culicidce, which contains moschetoes, 

 dec. 



CULINARY VEGETABLES. 

 Plants cultivated in gardens, and 

 sometimes in fields, for culinary pur- 

 poses. They may be classed as leaf 

 plants, such as the cabbage tribe, spi- 

 naceous plants, salads, pot and sweet 

 herbs ; stalk plants, such as aspara- 

 gus, tart rhubarb, sea kale, &c. ; 

 roots, such as the turnip, carrot, po- 

 tato, iScc. ; seeds, such as the pea and 

 bean ; fruit, such as the cucumber, 

 pumpkins, squashes, &.c. ; and the 

 entire plants, such as the onion, leek, 

 mushroom, &c. They may be other- 

 wise arranged, as the cabbage fami- 

 ly ; the leguminous family ; esculent 

 roots ; spinaceous plants ; alliaceous 

 plants ; asparaginous plants ; aceta- 

 \ rious plants ; pot herbs, sweet herbs, 

 plants used in tarts and confection- 

 erv, and edible fungi. 



CULLET. Pounded glass. It is 

 used in glass-making, for scouring pa- 

 per, and as a manure. It consists of 



215 



