SQUASHES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 23 



they yield little or nothing; they are so twisted that 

 they are often completely inverted; and though the 

 leaf stalks are true to their instincts, and bring them- 

 selves perpendicular to the surface, yet in doing so, the 

 curve they make, passing under the vine, lifts it a little 

 above the surface, too far for the joint r#ots to strike 

 into the earth to hold the plant in place and nourish 

 it. It is a bad plan ever to break the hold of the ten- 

 drils, and as a general rule better allow the large weeds 

 that appear towards the close of the season to remain, 

 than to pull them up and tear them out from among 

 the vines. If the weeds are to be removed, better cut 

 them off close to the surface and leave them. A 

 squash crop will foul the land at the very best, and let no 

 one plant to squashes with the idea that the frequent 

 cultivation allowed early in the season will tend to im- 

 prove a piece of ground already foul with weeds ; for 

 young weeds will spring up as soon as the spread of the 

 vines prevents the farther use of the Cultivator, and 

 when the leaves begin to thin out, at the close of the sea- 

 son, under the stimulant of the sun and air, these soon be- 

 come mammoths in the rich soil. When we consider that 

 climbing appears to be natural to the squash vine, the in- 

 jury caused by breaking the hold of the tendrils, and by 

 the moving about among the thick net work of vines to 

 do this, in connection with the fact that at best it is next 

 to impossible to keep the ground in clean condition, I 

 question whether, as a general rule, it is not better to 

 allow these late and large weeds to remain untouched, and 

 leave the clearing of the ground to the crop of the next year. 

 When the area of ground is small, and very clean cul- 

 ture is desirable, I would advise the driving of a few 

 stakes among the vines to give the runners a hold when 

 they first push out. It is not necessary that these stakes 

 should protrude more than one or two inches above the 

 surface. 



