SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 5 



men, and new beginners, may meet on common ground, 

 and clearly understand each, other when using these terms. 

 In passing, I remark, that gourds are far more prolific 

 than either squashes or pumpkins ; in some instances more 

 than two score having been grown on a single vine. 



SELECTING THE SOIL. 



All of the family thrive best, other things equal, in a 

 warm soil, which is a soil through which the roots can 

 easily find their way. The Hubbard squash appears to 

 attain to its highest development in regard to both yield 

 and quality in a soil, that, in addition to being warm, is 

 also a strong soil. I would not advise planting in a clay 

 soil, unless it be possible by thorough draining and high 

 manuring, (for this purpose, long manure is better than 

 fermented,) to make such soil light and porous. A drained 

 meadow will often yield enormous squashes, if well ma- 

 nured, but they are apt to be very porous in their structure, 

 of poor quality, and poor keepers. 



Some years since I planted a piece of rich, black 

 meadow to Hubbards, after manuring liberally in the hills. 

 The result w r as a tremendous growth of vine, some of 

 the leaves measuring twenty inches in diameter, while the 

 ends of the runners, in their great vigor, lifted themselves 

 by thousands two and three feet above the surface, and 

 with their blunt, arched extremities, looked like a myriad 

 of huge-winged serpents running a race. The squashes 

 were of a light green color, very large and showy, but, 

 when gathered, proved light in the handling, very porous 

 in structure, cutting like punk, were very poor keepers, 

 and coarse and watery in quality. Though such meadows 

 are thoroughly underdrained, the squashes grown on them 

 are light in proportion to their size, (which always insures 

 poor quality and poor keeping,) unless the meadows have 

 had abundance of sand and loam worked into them, thus 



