IH> I've a couple of questions, however.
 JP>       4 lb Pickling cucumbers
 IH> What are these precisely. Here we get cucumbers that 
 IH> are grown in a greenhouse, they are about a foot long. 
 IH> Then we get what we call in the UK ridge cucumbers 
 IH> which are about 6" long, and slightly barrel shaped. A 
 IH> very similar flavour to the first one - both can be 
The 6" ones are the closest.  Real pickling cukes run between 2 and 6" 
long,although commercial packers use bigger ones.  Big ones tend to be hollow 
though, which is bad news if you're pickling them whole.  
 IH> eaten raw. Lastly we have gherkins which we normally 
 IH> buy from 1" to 3" long and pickle. I've never tried 
 IH> them in any other way.  Which would you recommend for 
 IH> pickling.
Those would work too, left whole.  I'd recommend whichever is cheaper.:-)
The ones I used this year were given to me free.
 JP>       8 ea Dill heads
 IH> I know dill, but a head of dill? when I buy them they 
 IH> come in sprigs of about 6" long, a single shoot with 
 IH> the needle like leaves almost all the length.
HUH?????  I've never seen dill like that.  I think the heads he's talking 
about are the flower of the dill plant.  If you can find dried dill seed, 
that should be close.  I think...I've never had to find any in a store.  
Hard-core picklers in this country grow their own.
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