VEGETABLES SQUASII. 209 



during summer; yet the fruit of the " winter varieties " 

 may be kept, with a little care, until May. They are all 

 of luxuriant and vigorous growth, and although they Avill 

 grow readily on almost any soil, yet there is hardly 

 anything cultivated that will so well repay generous treat- 

 ment. Like all plants of this class, it is useless to sow 

 until the weather has become settled and warm ; next to 

 Lima Beans, Squashes should be the last vegetable plant- 

 ed. Light soils are best suited for their growth, and it is 

 most economical of manure to prepare hills for the seeds, 

 in the ordinary manner, by incorporating two or three 

 shovelfuls of well rotted manure Avith the soil, for each 

 hill. For the Bush varieties, from 3 to 4 feet each way, 

 and for the running sorts from 6 to 8 feet. Eight or ten 

 seeds should be sown in each hill, thinning out after they 

 have attained their rough leaves, leaving three or four of 

 the strongest plants. 



They are extensively grown for market, but are not suf- 

 ficiently profitable for our highly cultivated gardens, ami 

 are therefore grown rather as a farm-garden crop. They 

 give a varying profit, in our vicinity, of from $100 to §10 

 per acre. The early varieties are grown quite extensively 

 in the vicinity of Norfolk, Charleston, and Savannah, and 

 shipped Xorth, from two to four weeks earlier than they 

 can be had here, and like all sueh commodities, bring 

 three or four times the price of those grown in the vicini- 

 ty, in quantities that glut the market. 



The varieties are very numerous, and from the facility 

 with which they will cross, it is very difficult to retain the 

 different kinds pure. 



