VEGETABLE MARROW 137 



will doubtless keep their place in commerce, notwithstanding the im- 

 provements that have been effected by certain persons who may be 

 described as epicures in gardening. 



The Vegetable Marrow will grow in any good soil, and though a 

 very tender plant is so accommodating in its nature that if the seed 

 is sown on a piece of newly dug clay land in the latter part of May, 

 or early in June, the plants will thrive and produce a heavy crop 

 the same season. We put this as an extreme case, but we do not 

 recommend such a rough-and-ready mode of growing this valuable 

 esculent. The fact is, it pays better to grow it well than to grow it 

 ill ; and in a country where land and labour are costly, and the 

 summer very uncertain, it is best to take such a thing in hand scien- 

 tifically, and provide for it as many favourable conditions as possible. 

 Three conditions we will here insist upon : a moderate bottom heat 

 from fermenting material ; a kindly, loamy soil, quite mellow, in which 

 the roots can run freely ; and a sufficiency of water, for this is a thirsty 

 plant, and the more vigorous the growth the more satisfactory will be 

 the result. 



Frame culture is of some importance, because early Marrows are 

 highly valued, indeed almost overvalued, at good tables. For this 

 business we require the neat-growing, small-fruited kinds, which 

 yield a great crop in a small compass. The best place for an early 

 crop of Marrows is a brick pit, with hot-water pipes for top heat, and 

 a bed of fermenting materials for bottom heat. It is no difficult 

 matter to obtain a supply in a house with Cucumbers, but it is better 

 to grow the Marrows apart, as they require less heat and less moisture 

 than Cucumbers. In making up the bed, it is well to employ leaves 

 largely, say to the extent of one-half, the remainder being stable 

 manure that has been twice turned. Such a bed will give a mild 

 heat for a great length of time, and the plants can be put out upon it 

 within three days of its being made up. When grown in a common 

 frame, the arrangements are much the same as advised for the frame 

 cultivation of the Cucumber, the chief points of difference being 

 that Marrows should have less heat and more air. The temperature 

 for Marrows under cover may range from 55 the minimum, to 80 

 the maximum ; the safe medium being about 65 when the weather 

 is cold and dull ; running to 80 when strong sunshine prevails, and 

 the plants are growing freely with plenty of air. As for the general 

 management, we require a bed nine inches deep, of good fibrous 

 loam, regular supplies of water of the same temperature as the pits, 

 so that the bed is always reasonably moist, and every evening a slight 



