VEGETABLES. 333 
time I got $1.55, and the average weight was about 100 pounds to the 
dozen; it might have been a little less than that. 
Mr. Smith: That would be about $20 a ton then? 
Mr. Chandler: Yes. 1 would say, in reference to our house, that the 
first winter we only had it ceiled on the inside; fortunately, we had a mild 
winter and had no trouble. We had about forty tons, which we shipped 
to Chicago, and they sold there at $45 a ton. That was in January and 
the fore part of February. I have not shipped any there since. There is 
a gentleman in Chicago named Dunning, who lives about ten miles out, 
who has made a business of raising and keeping squash. I discovered his 
name in the Rural New Yorker, and called on Mr. Dunning when I was 
there, and went through his house. He has two houses witha capacity of 
200 tons, and they are fixed up in nice shape. They had just completed a 
new house the fall that I was down there, which was heated with hot 
water; otherwise his houses are like mine. He told me that he ships to 
Boston a great deal, and said that he had sold squasb in Boston as high 
as $85 and $90 a ton. 
President Underwood: I wish to thank Mr. Chandler, on behalf of the 
society, for his very interesting and instructive description. 
Mr. Smith: Just a word about those squashes. I wasvery much inter- 
ested in what Mr. Chandler had to say, but a great many of us have no 
squash houses, and I am among them. Last winter I tried three or four 
experiments. I gathered them just as Mr. Chandler says, and I think with 
him that that isa very important thing that is often overlooked. I noticed 
a good many farmers this fall, in getting in their squashes, picked them 
up off of the ground and tossed them into the wagon. That don’t pay. It is 
a great mistake. You must lay the squash down carefully. In regard to 
the matter of keeping, I think that Ican suggest something thatis within 
' the reach of everybody. Last winter I tried the plan of putting some of 
my squashes under a part of my house—not exactly in the cellar, but in a 
kind of a dugout where it often freezes, and where it is sometimes much 
colder than it isin the cellar. I put some squashes there, and, although 
they were frosted a trifle, they were in good condition the following March 
and did not spoil. I also tried putting some of them on racks that hung” 
up in the cellar, but I think that must have been too warm, as some of 
them became spotted. I had the best success with some that I put in a 
big room over the kitchen, where it did not get cold enough to freeze. I 
kept squashes there in good condition until April. This year I put quite 
a lot up there,distributing them so they barely touched each other. I looked 
them over just before coming here, and I could not find a single spot on 
any of them. I had three different varieties. I had the Boston Marrow, 
and they looked as sound as when they first went up there, the first of 
October. Any of us can keep squashes during the winter by being care- 
ful when we first handle them, not bruise them in any way whatever, and 
keeping them in a cool, dry place where they will get enough ventilation 
to prevent moulding. I find that a garret, or some room up Stairs, is us- 
ually a much better place to keep them than the cellar. 
Mr. Taylor: I have kept Hubbard squash in good condition until plant- 
ing time, for the last two seasons. I have cut the squash in the morning 
and had it for breakfast,and then taken the seed out and planted it at once 
for the next crop. I think you willagree that that was successful keeping. 
