MARKET GARDENING AND FAKMERri' GARDENS. 655 



roots run as far as the vines, and should lind food wherever 

 they go. The ground should be mellowed by tlTe harrow, clod 

 crusher, and roller ; then the manure spread and harrowed in, or 

 plowed under with the cultivator. Two great mistakes are usu ■ 

 ally made in planting : the hills are too near, and unnecessary 

 :, labor is given in preparing them. The hills for the mammoth 

 varieties should not be less than twelve feet apart each way; 

 the Hubbard, Turban, and Yokohama, ten feet; the smaller 

 marrows, eight feet ; and the summer varieties, four to six leet, 

 A chain dragged across the field each way, at the above dis- 

 tances, will mark the places for the hills, where the lines cross. 



A small hollow like a plate is made at these crossings, and a 

 I 

 [ handful of guano, or one of the other fertilizers, thrown mto it; 



1 a shovel of earth is thrown onto this, and the whole thoroughly 



I worked together with a flat-tined fork. Unless this working of 



j the fertilizers into the soil is thorough, there is danger of heat- 



j ing. Plant four seeds (wo more) in the hill, and when the plants 



[ are out of danger of destruction from bugs thin to two in each 



i hill. Keep the weeds down with the cultivator until the vines 



i run so as to interfere, when the piece must be let alone. The 



^ first of May, in this section, is the time for planting the seed. 



[ Hoeing the earth in large quantities about the vines is a waste 



\ of labor, as just enough to steady the vine in the wind is suffi- 



E cient. Summer squashes are sold long before ripening, and are 



; of no value after the shell can be felt with the thumb nail ; but 



t winter squashes are to ripen on the vine. Ripeness is indicated 



! both by color and by the drying up of the stem. When the 



» stem is cut from the vine, the squash is turned under side up, 



and left for a few days to dry, unless there is danger of frost, 



; when they must be brought into piles and protected. A house 



i with double walls, double doors, and double windows, and pro- 



> yide<l with a stove, is the best for wintering squashes. If some 



