HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 281 



well matured. They should be thoroughly dried. They will 

 keep for several years. 



Gather your squashes just before frost and let them lie a few 

 days to become thoroughly dry, then store in a cool place. 

 Handle as little as possible. Do not allow them to lie on the 

 ground; you can keep them till February. They bring good 

 prices and are a very profitable croj) for farmers to raise, and 

 then it is so much easier to raise them than your Russian apples; 

 more certain every time. 



The yield per acre depends of course upon the character of 

 the soil and how highly fertilized. On a light sandy soil, the 

 more it is manured the better. I use a compost in the hills to 

 make them come forward rapidly. I have raised nearly twenty 

 tons to the acre, but six or seven tons of marketable squashes is 

 a fair crop. I plant in rows ten feet apart each way and leave 

 only two healthy plants to a hill. 



Col. Stevens inquired if he experienced any trouble with the 

 common striped bug. 



Mr. Allyn replied that he had and it was a difficult matter to 

 kill them. He had a remedy that proved very effectual. It was 

 to use air-slacked. It should be applied as soon as the bugs 

 make their first appearance, but not too freely, or when the 

 vines are wet. Soot was very good and might be used in larger 

 quantities; a handful to a hill. He preferred the lime. As soon 

 as he commenced using it pretty freely the bugs would disappear. 



Mr. Underwood inquired how it would do to put up a sign 

 that there was lime on the place. 



Mr. Allyn said the bugs might not understand English. 



Mr. Eidout inquired if it was advisable to prune vines planted 

 on sod, or to remove the first sets. Cucumbers, it is said, are 

 more productive if treated in this way. 



Mr. Allyn said he had never found any advantage to result 

 from trimming. He usually let them take their own course and 

 gave them plenty of room. 



Mr. Allyn said he would like to say a word as to starting 

 seeds in the spring. It is earliness we are after. We don't 

 want products sent here from a distance when he can raise them 

 at home. We want to keep our money here. It is important 

 to start our vegetables as early as we can. I take leaf mold; you 

 all know what it is. I use a box about four inches deep and 

 sprinkle leaf mold in the bottom with sufficient dirt and plant 

 the seed, such as radishes, onions, cabbage, lettuce, etc. Seeds 



Vol. V— 36. 



