214 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



has frivcn milk the most of the time since I have 

 had her. She has never been sick a day, nor gar- 

 pety except once when I tried to dry her two 

 months before her calving; nor does she have 

 small calves. I have a four-year-old cow, one of 

 her calves, that girtlis over six feet, and a steer 

 calf brouglit up on one-half of her milk, that will 

 be one year old the '2.Sth of this month, and kept 

 since he was weaned same as I keep the rest of my 

 stock, that measures almost tive feet. 



Now, in conclusion, my advice to "A Young 

 Farmer," to an old one, and to every body else that 

 keeps cows, would be to take good care of them 

 summer and winter, with plenty of good nourish- 

 ing food, well sheltered from the storms and cold, 

 and be sure they are milked regularly and dry, as 

 long as they have milk in their "bags, whether "it is 

 up to the time of their calving or not. The ham- 

 mer falls ! John L. Jones 



Bipley, Me., March 21, 1811. 



P. S. — I wish you could fill another page of your 

 paper with just such reading matter as the tirst is 

 filled with. J. L. J. 



Remarks. — Is the motion in the postscript sec- 

 onded ? Are you ready for the question ? As 

 many of the members of the Club as think they 

 can furnish enough of "just such reading matter" 

 to fill another page, will say, aye. 



RAISING CUCUMBERS FOR PICKLES. 



Having about one acre of land that is well 

 adapted to the culture of cucumbers, I will in- 

 quire of you or some of your correspondents, if 

 there is a ready market for them when properly 

 prepared or pickled ? If so, what are they worth 

 a barrel ? What kind of barrels are the best to 

 keep them in, and what is the 6e«< mode of pickling 

 them ? Will they command enough better price in 

 market by being put into vinegar, to pay the ex- 

 pense of preparing them that way, or is it better 

 to put them down in salt ? Not knowing how to 

 properly prepare- them either way, and wishing to 

 trj' the experiment one season, I hope that some 

 one who has had experience in that business will 

 inform, through j^our valuable paper, which way 

 is the best ; and give the full particulars how to 

 prepai-e them in the most successful manner. 



S. D. Greenleaf. 



Starks, Me., March 21, 1811. 



Remarks. — This is a branch of Market Garden- 

 ing ; a part of a trade which requires an apprentice- 

 ship as much as watchmaking or any of the me- 

 chanic arts. Cucumbers for pickles are raised to a 

 large extent in the vicinity of Boston. We are told 

 that a single pickle establishment in Boston has 175 

 acres planted for them every year, and that they 

 also buy of others. A West Cambridge gardener 

 says that not less than five cords of manure should 

 be allowed for an acre of cucumbers. The land 

 must be in good condition and not liable to suffer 

 from drought. The hills are usually some five to 

 six feet apart. • The seeds are planted from the 

 middle of June till the middle of July. The striped 

 bugs are fought with plaster, powdered bone, &c. 

 It is recommended to put seeds for six or eight 

 plants in a hill, to be thinned to three or four when 

 well established. 



We are indebted to W. K. Lewis, 93 Broad St., 

 Boston, for some information which may be of use 

 to Mr. Greenleaf. The Short Prickly, Early Cluster 

 and Early Fi-ame varieties are recommended. As 



near four inches in length as possible is the de- 

 sirable size for pickling. They should be gathered 

 daily, clearing the vines of everything large enough. 

 Leave half an inch of the stem on the cucumbers 

 and be careful not to bruise them. Have an open 

 cask of strong brine, and as fast as the cucumbers 

 are gathered put them into the brine, and keep 

 them constantly covered by the brine. After re- 

 maining in this brine some time, say till the pick- 

 ing season is over, it must be thrown away and 

 the cucumbers be put into a new clean, strong 

 brine of rock salt. Good liquor or provision bar- 

 rels are used. If the whole process is performed 

 in a workmanlike manner the cucumbers will keep 

 till the next spring or summer when better prices are 

 often obtained than in the fall or winter. Most 

 pickle dealers prefer to buy them in this condition, 

 as different men have different ways of preparing 

 them for the table. 



But if you have a market for pickles you may 

 prepare them yourself. As we have already re- 

 marked, different individuals have different ways 

 of doing this. The following has been recom- 

 mended for family use : — Soak the cucumbers five 

 or six days, drain them and put them in ajar with 

 the following pickle : to one gallon of vinegar add 

 three pounds of sugar, two or three onions, a tea- 

 cupful of allspice, half a cup of cloves, a pod or two 

 of red pepper ; boil all and pour over the pickles 

 hot. The ladies of your own and neighboring 

 families will help you to other receipts for pickling 

 the cucumbers. 



The salted cucumbers are now worth twenty-five 

 cents a gallon, — usuallj' at this season from seven- 

 teen to twenty cents a gallon. The drought last 

 season cut short the crop and prices are unusually 

 high. Hence it is probable that they may be 

 raised this year in suflScient quantities to reduce 

 the price to a low point. 



EARLY potatoes. 



Last spring I got the leading varieties of early 

 potatoes including King of the Earlies, Earlj' Rose, 

 Early Snow Ball, Early Mohawk and other va- 

 rieties intending to fairly test them. But it so 

 happened that I did not get the King of the Earlies 

 until several days after the others were planted. 

 I could scarcely perceive any difference in the 

 Early Rose, Early Snow Ball and Early Mohawk. 

 The King of the Earlies which was not planted 

 until five days later, ripened earlier than either, 

 although the King the Earlies were planted on 

 ground that was not so dry as the other varieties. 

 The largest yield of the early varieties was from 

 the Early Rose. The largest yield that I got from 

 any variety was from the Harrison, closely fol- 

 lowed by the Peerless or No. 6. I intend to test 

 them on a more extended scale this season and 

 will inform you of the result. 



Which is the most valuable as an absorbent (the 

 cost of obtaining being the same) charcoal dust or 

 saw-dust ? What is the most valuable variety of 

 cabbage to raise for market ? What variety of 

 onion is the best for a general crop ?' h. b. 



Hollis Centre, Me., March 11, 1811. 



Remarks. — Simplj' as an absorbent saw-dust 

 will be much the cleanest, but the charcoal dust 



