SQUASH AND MELON CULTURE. 13 



above ground, the}' should be cultivated out, and the soil loosened 

 around them with a hoe. After this, keep the cultivator and hoe 

 going often, so as to keep the soil light and the weeds down. It 

 is ver}^ important to hoe and cultivate often at first, so as to get 

 the land clean before the vines begin to run. Then they should be 

 cultivated and hoed for the last time, drawing the soil around the 

 roots in a broad, flat hill, but not very high. I like to have the 

 vines covered for a little distance, as I think it makes them 

 stronger, and is something of a protection from the borers. It will 

 be found better for the crop, to keep out of the field after the vines 

 cross the rows, even if the weeds do grow, for moving the vines will 

 be of more injury than the weeds. It is better to get the land so 

 clean before the vines run that the squashes will keep ahead of the 

 weeds. 



How to Protect Squashes from their Enemies. The greatest diffi- 

 culty in raising squashes is to protect them from the insect enemies, 

 which continually attack them, from the time the leaves appear 

 above ground until the fruit is ripe. But they can be protected by 

 constant care and attention, and no one who is not willing to give 

 them this, should attempt to raise squashes. By this I do not 

 mean that they need to have a great amount of labor performed on 

 them daily, but that thej'' should be watched closely, to see if they 

 are doing well. As soon as the leaves are seen above ground, they 

 should be watched for the appearance of the striped bug ; and as 

 soon as he is found, the plants should be dusted over with plaster 

 in the morning when the dew is on, or immediately after a rain, while 

 they are yet wet, so that the plaster will stick to the leaves. This 

 should be repeated ever}' few days and after every rain, which will 

 wash it off", until the bugs leave, or the vines are too large for them 

 to injure. The most expeditious way to do this is to go through 

 the field with a pail of plaster and a hand sieve or dredging box, 

 such as we kill potato beetles with, and shake the plaster over the 

 vines. It will take but little if applied in this way. Ashes, air- 

 slacked lime, or fine earth, will answer, but are not so good as 

 plaster. I have also tried sulphur, but cannot recommend it, as it 

 seems to poison the vines. About the time the third or fourth leaf 

 is out, the black bug will appear, usually in pairs — two, four, six, or 

 more on a hill. They are found around the stalk at the surface of 

 the ground, and often cut it oflTin a few days. These are the old 

 bugs which have survived the winter, in a dormant state, hidden 



