1899.] ESSAYS. 17 



at the last hoeing or by the middle of June. As large a crop 

 can often l)e grown by this method as if no other crop had 

 preceded it. 



When I Hrst introduced the Essex Hybrid Squash, a friend 

 came twenty miles to get seed enough to plant an acre, then 

 planted to early potatoes. He grew upon that acre 400 

 bushels of potatoes, and as a second crop nine tons of Hybrid 

 Squashes, and received first premium on both crops from the 

 Essex County Agricultural Society. 



The only labor performed on the squash was sticking these 

 seeds into the side of the rows ten feet apart, and hoeing them 

 once when he dug the potatoes. Another market gardener of 

 Dedham, after taking oft' a crop of Early Turnip Beets from 

 one-half an acre, planted it to Hybrid Squashes the last of June, 

 and informed me in the fall that he grew eight tons on the half 

 acre, and that almost the entire lot were handsome, good sized, 

 marketable squashes. 



In thus growing two crops the same season, of course the land 

 must be well manured and in good condition, and it is well to 

 use for the second crop some active nitrogenous fertilizer to give 

 the plants a rapid growth, as upon a strong, vigorous growth at 

 first depends your success. 



Perhaps the Essex Hybrid is the best variety to plant for the 

 second crop, as it is of rapid growth and quick maturity. 



Of the many kinds of squashes now in cultivation, the Boston 

 Marrow, Dunlap's Prolific Marrow, Bay State, Essex Hybrid, 

 VV^arreh, and Hubbard are the most desirable. 



In the vicinity of the large cities, growing of the melon crop 

 is often very profitable by starting the plants under glass or in 

 hotbeds and transplanting them to the open ground the first 

 week in June. Those who have warm, early land will often 

 find the melon crop giving as large a profit as any. Melons can 

 be planted in the open ground from the 25th of May until the 

 10th of June, and, if a favorable season, will give good returns 

 for your labor. A few years since I planted half an acre on the 

 8th of June, following a crop of spinach. The amount grown 

 on the half-acre was 200 boxes of very nice melons, and were 



