CUCUMBER PICKLES.
Make a weak brine, hot or cold; if hot, let the cucumbers stand in it twenty-four hours, if cold forty-eight hours; rinse, and dry the cucumbers with a cloth, take vinegar enough to cover them, allow one ounce of alum to every gallon of vinegar, put it in a brass kettle with the cucumbers and heat slowly, turning the cucumbers from the bottom frequently; as soon as they are heated through skim them out into a crock, let the vinegar boil up, turn it over the pickles and let them stand at least twenty-four hours; drain off the vinegar. Take fresh vinegar, and to every gallon allow two tablespoons of white mustard seed, one of cloves, one of celery seed, one of stick cinnamon, one large green pepper, a very little horse radish, and if you like one-half pint sugar. Divide the spices equally into several small bags of coarse muslin, scald with the vinegar and pour over the pickles. If you like your pickles hard, let the vinegar cool before pouring over them.