1 84 Commercial Gardening 



poisonous to insect life in the soil should be applied according to direc- 

 tions before the seed is sown. The Turnip Fly may be a trouble in a 

 dry spring to the young seedlings. A good preventive against this destruc- 

 tive pest is to sow soot over the land as soon as the first seedlings appear 

 above ground, and a second one as soon as the seed leaves are well devel- 

 oped. The sowings of soot should be made in early morning, while the 

 leaves are damp, but not when there is a frost. [w. G. L.] 



33. VEGETABLE MARROW 



The fruit of the Marrow (Cucurbita Pepo ovifera) is becoming more 

 and more important as an article of food. As a forcing plant in the bush 

 form it is very useful. Those who employ lights and boxes for raising 

 Lettuces during the winter will find the Marrow a valuable crop with 

 which to fill them during the spring months, particularly if there are pits 

 with hot water under. If not, a bed of manure to give the plants a start, 

 and night coverings of litter or mats will bring them on to fruit in June, 

 a good time before anything can be on the market from those sown out-of- 

 doors. If trailing Marrows are put under the lights, then the rows can 

 be 4 yd. apart, and as soon as May is out the boxes can be lifted to allow 

 the shoots to run out, and they will soon cover the ground. To grow 

 Marrows successfully when planted on hot beds of manure, water must be 

 handy, in quantities enough to keep them moist in any weather. In the 

 evening after sunset is the time to get the best results from watering. If 

 the Bush variety of Marrow is grown, then the white is the better for 

 growing under lights. 



The Green Bush Marrow is largely grown as a field crop. The seed 

 is sown during May in rows 3 ft. 6 in. or 4 ft. apart. Two or three seeds 

 are put in a place in case one or two should fail. The seeds are covered 

 with J in. of soil, and are so arranged as to be 3 ft. apart in the rows. 

 When once above ground it is astonishing how rapidly the plants grow. 

 Where more than one seed has come up in a place they are singled, and 

 no more attention is needed except hoeing. This can be done principally 

 with the horse hoe unless the crop is " middled " with something else, which 

 it may be, either with Lettuce or Spinach or three drills of Radishes, where 

 the land is light and good enough. [w. G. L.] 



So large an area as 200 to 250 ac. of Marrows in the Evesham district 

 may appear an exaggeration, but probably the estimate is too low; there 

 are so many who grow them, that if they averaged only J ac. each there 

 would be a larger area acounted for than that mentioned. 



Sometimes the Marrow plants are raised from seed sown in pots as 

 described for Cucumbers; but more usually the seed is sown where the 

 plants are to grow and fruit. In the latter case holes as for ridge 

 Cucumbers are made at certain distances apart, the distances depending 

 on whether the ordinary rambling plant be grown, or whether they be 



