SUCCESS WITH SPECIALTIES 225 



remarkably well, and fruiting abundantly, both water- 

 melons and muskmelons being available for the table 

 and for exhibition at the county fair the latter part of 

 August, and they were constantly available thereafter 

 until October 2, when an impending frost led me to 

 pick the few which remained, and by keeping them in a 

 cool cellar, these were available until used up." 



Squashes and Cucumbers. — Methods as described 

 for these were much the same as for melons. In regard 

 to the summer squash, Dr. W. Y. Fox, Bristol county, 

 Massachusetts, writes: Two plantings of Golden 

 Summer Crookneck were made, one on May 5, and the 

 other July 3. The hills were filled with stable manure 

 and irrigated several times. The striped beetle was 

 kept down by free use of air-slaked lime. The first 

 squashes were cut July 17, and the last October i. In 

 all we had two hundred squashes, and we appreciate 

 this vegetable as much as any we raise, for it is impos- 

 sible to buy them in the market that are fit to eat. 

 We want them cut while tender, almost as soon as 

 the blossom falls off the end, while the truckmen do 

 not cut them till the outer skin is as hard as Pharaoh's 

 heart and we must cut them up with an ax. They are 

 also much better when just picked than after knock- 

 ing around for three or four days. 



Early Cukes. — We had cucumbers July 3^ notes 

 Mrs. D. F. M., Suffolk county, New York, the preced- 

 ing year we did not have them till the last week in July. 

 I think that starting them in hotbeds makes a differ- 

 ence of nearly three weeks. 



A. E. Ross, Strafford county. New Hampshire, 

 gives further particulars about the early cucumber 

 crop: I planted them in plum boxes eight inches 

 square and four inches deep. I filled them about two- 

 thirds full of good garden soil, then put in the seed. I 

 placed them in a cold frame, made by nailing boards 



