SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 19 



to the advantages above claimed, I think that the crop is 

 more uniform in size, and the squashes are better propor- 

 tioned in their forms than under the hill system. The 

 vines being in a row, instead of a circle, the cultivator can 

 be carried nearer to them. Most of my land is very un- 

 even, otherwise I should always plant in drills in preference 

 to hills. 



PLANTING THE SEED. 



The quantity of seed per acre for the Marrow and Hub- 

 bard varieties is set by practical farmers at two and a 

 half pounds. This allows for liberal planting with a good 

 surplus for after use, should cold or wet weather rot the 

 seed, or insects destroy the plants that first appear. Four 

 seeds in the hill and three in the drill is sufficient. The 

 seed should not be put in, in the latitude of Boston, earlier 

 than the 10th of May, and may be safely sown in ordinary 

 seasons as late as the first of June, and success is some- 

 times attained with seed planted on rich, warm land as 

 late as the twentieth of June. A part and sometimes all 

 of the seed planted as early as the 10th of May will 

 rot in the ground ; yet to get the vines along early, and 

 thus enable them to survive the attacks of the squash 

 bugs, formers oftentimes take this risk. If, after a cold, 

 wet spell, the planter mistrusts the seed have rotted in 

 the ground, let him scratch away the earth carefully with 

 his fingers (it is infinitely easier to put a seed under than 

 to find it again ! ), and if the seed is rotten, it will readily 

 show it when pressed between the thumb and finger. 



Seed may be planted either by using the hoe, (dropping 

 the seed, and covering with the hoe,) or each one may be 

 thrust into the ground with the thumb and finger. If the 

 attempt is made to push the seed under by the finger 

 alone, it is frequently left too near the surface, as the 

 finger is very apt to slip by it unawares. If squir- 



