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Good Seed and Infected Seed 



By EMIL F. GUBA, Research Professor 



MARK TWAIN, once trying his hand at 

 editing an agricuhural paper created quite 

 a furor, so he claimed, by describing the squash 

 as a favorite New England berry I 



His humor, however, was not appreciated by 

 rugged New Englanders, and his agricultural 

 editing was soon ended. 



The squash, of course, is far from being a 

 berry, but Mark Twain was quite right in classi- 

 fying it as "New England" and "favorite," be- 

 cause Massachusetts now leads in the produc- 

 tion and consumption of this blue ribbon vege- 

 table. 



Causes of Spoilage Numerous 



New Englanders not only want to eat their 

 squash, but to have it, too. And they can have 

 it, long after harvest time, if care is taken to 

 store the crop properly. The chief varieties for 

 winter market are Blue Hubbard and Butter- 

 nut. These are harvested in September and 

 stored in farm buildings. Although sound and 

 healthy when harvested, squash can be so 

 spoiled by bacteria and] molds in storage that 

 the grower's investment is greatly depreciated. 

 The many types of molds attacking squash 

 during storage are illustrated on these pages. 



Squash cannot be stored anywhere. They 

 require cool, dry moving air andean even tem- 

 perature. An overhead storage is better than a 



The marked wilting of these squash vines hos been caused by 

 bacterial wilt. Although prevalent inj^the field, this vine disease 

 ordinarily exhibits no symptoms until the squash is stored. 



J. C. Kichaidso>i 



