Vegetable Marrow 



if the smaller Marrows are insufficiently appreciated in gardens, we 

 cannot hope to see them on sale in shops. 



The Vegetable Marrow will grow in any good soil, and although 

 a tender plant, it is so accommodating that if the seed is sown on a 

 piece of newly dug clay land in the latter part of May, or early in 

 June, the plants will thrive and produce a heavy crop the same 

 season. We put this as an extreme case, but we do not recommend 

 such a careless mode of growing this valuable esculent. The 

 fact is, it pays better to grow it well than to grow it ill; and in a 

 country where land and labour are costly, and the summer very 

 uncertain, it is best to take such a thing in hand scientifically, and 

 provide for it as many favourable conditions as possible. Three con- 

 ditions are imperative : a moderate bottom heat from fermenting 

 material ; a kindly, loamy soil, quite mellow, in which the roots can 

 run freely ; and a sufficiency of water, for this is a thirsty plant, and 

 the more vigorous the growth the more satisfactory will be the result. 



Frame culture is of some importance, because early Marrows are 

 highly valued at good tables. For this business we require the neat- 

 growing, small-fruited kinds, which yield a great crop in a small 

 compass. The best place for an early crop of Marrows is a brick 

 pit, with hot-water pipes for top heat, and a bed of fermenting 

 materials for bottom heat. It is no difficult matter to obtain a 

 supply in a house with Cucumbers, but it is better to grow the 

 Marrows apart, as they require less heat and less moisture than 

 Cucumbers. In making up the bed, it is well to employ leaves 

 largely, say to the extent of one-half, the remainder being stable 

 manure that has been twice turned. Such a bed will give a mild 

 heat for a great length of time, and the plants can be put out upon it 

 within three days of its being made up. When grown in a common 

 frame, the arrangements are much the same as advised for the frame 

 cultivation of the Cucumber, the chief points of difference being 

 that Marrows should have less heat and more air. The temperature 

 for Marrows under cover may range from 55 the minimum, to 80 

 the maximum ; the safe medium being about 65 when the weather 

 is cold and dull ; running to 80 when strong sunshine prevails, and 

 the plants are growing freely ,with plenty of air. As for the general 

 management, a bed nine inches deep of good fibrous loam is required, 

 with regular supplies of water of the same temperature as the pits, so 

 that the bed is always reasonably moist, and every evening a slight 

 syringing over the leaves and the walls before shutting up. The 

 training out is a very simple matter. Let the vines run in their own 



