SECRETARY'S PORTFOLIO. 471 



or land foul with weeds. There is no temptation to neglect cultivation. Upon 

 a quick soil, with good stock and the above management, there is little ques- 

 tion about securing an excellent crop. 



In case the fruit becomes diseased, as is the case in many fields this season, 

 every effort should be made to destroy every vestige of it as it appears. It is 

 liable to do more injury where the crop has been grown on the same ground for 

 a number of seasons. 



Wintering Squashes. — This is what James J. H. Gregory says, and 

 he knows, if anybody does, how to manage the squash : No one can keep 

 squashes to advantage until he has learned to keep the temperature of the 

 storehouse near the freezing point and yet not endanger the squashes. 

 From a want of this knowledge almost all squash-houses are kept at too high 

 a temperature, and as a consequence the squashes lose in weight and quality, 

 and, if they are Hubbards, in appearance also, losing their fine dark -green 

 color and becoming a. reddish, rusty hue. After squashes are stored, the 

 great desiderata are a low temperature and a dry air. Should the weather 

 be mild in the course of the winter, never be tempted to open doors and 

 windows unless the air is dry — a very uncommon thing in winter. If it is 

 desirable to air the squash-house, select a dry day when not very cold, start 

 up the fire and open the roof-windows. 



Squashes that were grown in a wet season will rot most in winter, and 

 vice versa. Other things being equal, the keeping of squashes depends 

 largely on the hygrometric state of the air — in other words, the dryer the 

 air the better they will keep. This is the reason squashes keep better in a, 

 house than in a cellar. The house is no warmer, but the air is dryer. In 

 dry, sandy cellars, by the aid of a fire they can be kept about as well as in a, 

 house built for the purpose. In dry cellars they will generally keep till 

 January or February very well if the external air is kept from them. Sev- 

 eral years ago I lost about twenty-five tons of squashes in ten days, from 

 having the warm, clamp air of a January thaw in the cellar. After squashes 

 are stored the less they can be handled the better, and in cellars it is often 

 better to let a few rot than to sort them over and cull out the imperfect ones, 

 for after such a process they usually decay faster than before. 



If apples, squashes, or any other fruits are gathered ripe, the next step is 

 to decay, but if they are not fully ripe they have this intermediate step to 

 take before decaying. Heat is an agent in promoting progress in each of 

 these steps, hence the less heat abeve a freezing temperature in which 

 squashes can be kept, other conditions being equal, the longer they will 

 keep. The very small ones, commonly fed to the stock, are among the very 

 best to keep, provided they are stored in the warmest part of the building. 

 Late in spring they are salable at a high figure. Out of 500 pounds of such 

 squashes stored so near my stove that the outer tier cooked with the heat, I 

 found but about ten pounds of defective ones when I overhauled them near 

 April for the first time. Squashes planted near June 1 will usually keep 

 better than those planted earlier, on the same principle that the Eoxbury 

 Eusset and Baldwin keep better than the Porter, etc., the former not being 

 ripe when gathered. The order in Nature is that fruit shall ripen before it 

 decays. 



Grow Onions. — An acre of onions, says Joseph Harris in the Weekly Press, 



