SQUASH. 85 



SQUASH. 



Treatment for raising a seed crop is similar to pump- 

 kin. Squash does best in a good, rich soil and thrives 

 in a warm temperature. To avoid mixture, two differ- 

 ent varieties should not be allowed to grow near each 

 other; squash will also mix with pumpkin and with 

 gourds. A safe distance to keep varieties apart is forty 

 rods. 



In the Middle States and in the West, the usual time 

 for planting is May 15th for summer varieties, May 

 5th to 15th for winter kinds. 



Make hills for the former, three feet apart each way; 

 for the latter, eight feet each way; summer varieties 

 may also be planted in rows three feet apart, dropping 

 two or three seeds every eight inches in the row. 



Eight to twelve seeds should be planted in each hill; 

 thinning when all danger from bugs is past, summer 

 varieties to three or four plants in a hill, winter sorts 

 two plants to a hill. If planted in rows, summer sorts 

 should be thinned to one plant every eight inches. 

 Cultivation should be thorough and weeds kept down. 



Harvest and extract seed after the manner for pump- 

 kin. Summer varieties should undergo twenty-four 

 to forty-eight hours' fermentation, similar to cucumbers; 

 but the winter varieties must not be fermented at all, 

 the course for these being precisely like that described 

 for white-seeded pumpkins, to which refer. 



Summer squashes are washed and dried in the same 

 manner as directed for cucumber; while for winter 

 varieties these operations are same as for white-seeded 

 pumpkins. 



Market. Squash seed is sold largely by the trade, 

 the demand running principally to summer varieties. 

 It is produced entirely in this country, mostly in the 



