CULTIVATION OF THE SQUASH IN THE GARDEN. 203 



Mr. A. G. Long: Has any one grown what is called the "Jap- 

 anese pie squash?" I presume it is so called from the peculiar 

 markings on the seeds. 



Mr. Jerabek: I raised a few, but they did not ripen. 



Mr. Rideout: It is far superior to the common squash or 

 pumpkin for pies. It is a very fine squash. 



Mr. Long: Prom four hills I grew thirty-seven squashes, 

 ranging in weight from ten to twenty-five pounds each, and I 

 had no trouble in giving them all away. (Laughter). They 

 make very fine pies, of a finer flavor and richer than pumpkin. 



Mr. T. T. Smith: I would like to ask whether eight feet apart and 

 ten feet apart between the rows is not too close. Whenever I con- 

 sider the question of planting- squash, it always recalls the squash I 

 saw at Chicago in 189.3. It came from California, and on the squash 

 was a typewritten statement as follows: "This squash grew 853 feet 

 from the hill. There were 877 squashes in one hill." (Laughter). I 

 think squashes should be planted ten or twelve feet apart, although 

 I do not believe they will grow to any such length in this country 

 as they do in California, but in a favorable location they will grow 

 to a great length. 



Mr. Benjamin: I don't think the Hubbard squash will grow over 

 twenty-five feet. I think we get the best results with squash some- 

 what protected; where the wind whips the leaves and blossoms, I do 

 not get any squash. I have had good success raising melons by 

 planting them in a rich compost. 



Mr. Taylor: I would like to ask whether any one practices prun- 

 ing when the plant is young. I find they do not fruit near the hill 

 unless they are pruned. I practice cutting off the vines, and I get a 

 great many squashes, but they are not large ones. 



Mr. Long: I pruned the ends of the vines of those Japanese pie 

 squashes I referred to a moment ago when the squashes were about 

 half grown, and every squash that remained on the vine ripened. I 

 have some in the cellar today apparently as sound as when taken 

 from the vines. 



Mr. C. L. Smith: That is the same thing as the calash, 



Mr. J. E. Northrup: No, it is different. 



Mr. Long: They grow somewhat in the shape of a club, some of 

 them two feet long, the neck five to six inches in diameter and solid 

 meat, while the blossom end is enlarged and contains the seed. 



Mr. Benjamin: I think if the gardener had time to watch hia vines 

 and prune them at the proper time, he could not only ripen up his 

 fruit better, but he would increase the yield also. 



Mr. Rideout: If you do not cut off the ends of the vines, you will 

 have immature squashes. 



Mr. Elliot: The practice in forcing vegetables, especially cucum- 

 bers, in early days with me, was to pinch the vines when they got to 

 be a foot long, and as they filled the frame I kept pinching until we 

 got our frame full, then we let them fruit. I had an old English 

 gardener who had been brought up and trained in the greenhouse 



