Growing Squash in Saskatchewan 



OF the varieties of squash that can 

 be grown in this province I have 

 found that Long White Bush 

 Marrow leads the list. Next comes the 

 Red or Orange Hubbard squash, and the 



Some Saikatchewan Sqaaihei 



(ireen Hubbard is not far behind. Cit- 

 rons, cucumbers and the common yellow 

 field pumpkin must all be treated in 

 much the same manner and may be ex- 

 pected to yield fairly well. 



We are subject to late spring frosts 

 in this country. As the seeds of all the 

 squashes rot easily with cold weather, 

 we must wait until the ground is quite 

 warm. We must also wait until there is 

 no danger of the young plants freezing. 

 The last spring frost is usually on the 

 night of the first full moon in June. As 

 the squash seeds take about eight days 

 to germinate, they may be sown about 

 that length of time or a few days less, 

 before the said full moon. 



Select a well-drained plot, with soil 

 that has been deeply worked, and is as 

 free as possible from cut worms. Mark 

 out your hills iibout four feet apart. As 

 each hill will be two feet square, allow 

 six feet from centre to centre. With a 

 spade, dig out square holes two feet 

 square and eighteen inches deep. Throw 

 the soil in heaps on the north side of the 

 holes. 



When the holes are all dug, go to the 

 stables and secure fresh horse manure 

 free from straw or litter; in fact, just 

 such manure as you would use for a 

 good hotbed. Fill each hole one foot 

 deep, or if possible fifteen inches, pack- 

 ing the manure tightly and making it 

 perfectly level or slisrhtly dished in the 

 middle. Put a pail of water in each hole 

 unless the manure is already very wet, 

 or the weather is cold and damp. Fill in 

 on top with earth, being careful not to 

 raise the hill above the level of the sur- 

 rounding garden. 



Plant the seeds at once. The heat 

 from the manure will be ju.st suflRcient to 

 cause the seeds to germinate quickly. I 

 usually plant at least ten seeds in a hill. 



Brenda E. Neville, Cottonwood 



It is a good idea to place a stove-pipe 

 or bottomless pail filled with manure in 

 the centre of the hill. Then plant the 

 seeds in a ring around it. Another de- 

 vice is to fill the hole with manure, then 

 place a bottomless box slightly smaller 

 than the hole, on the manure ; fill three 

 or four inches deep with earth, and 

 plant the seeds. In both cases, the idea 

 is to enable one to pour on each hill a 

 large quantity of water every day, with- 

 out wetting the earth that is next to the 

 stems of the plants. Water poured on 

 the manure in the pail, or on the man- 

 ure outside of the box, will soak down 

 to the roots without baking the surface. 



We have no honey bees in these parts. 

 (They can be kopt where shelter has been 

 established). \\ hen flowering time comes 

 daily watchfulness is the only chance for 

 a good crop. About ten o'clock each 

 morning the vines should be visited, and 

 every pistillate flower must be carefully 

 inoculated by hand with pollen from the 

 staminate flowers. The kinds of flowers 

 are easily distinguished. The pistillate 

 flower has a tiny squash at its base, 

 while the staminate flower has not. 



It is safest to gather all squashes be- 

 fore the least frost comes. However, 

 ripe squash will stand some frost and 

 when the vines are frost-bitten all the 

 fruit can be gathered at once. Stored 

 in a dry place, Hubbard squash will 

 keep for months and marrows and cit- 

 rons will keep a long time. 



Easterns may at first despise their 

 big yellow pumpkins, but a good ripe 

 pumpkin is a curiosity in the stores 

 here. In 1905, I sold one to a grocer. 

 He placed it on his counter and sold it in 

 slices like a watermelon. That pumpkin 

 brought me eight cents a pound. Hub- 



bard squash are hardly ever seen, but 



cucumbers, citrons and 

 grown quite commonly, 

 tables can be grown on 

 where fruit bushes have 

 established. They almost 

 licious preserves so they 

 valuable to new-comers. 



marrows are 

 These vege- 

 a new farm, 

 not yet been 

 all make de- 

 are especially 



Uses of Ginseng 



Of what use is ginseng and where can it 

 be sold?— W. P., Nelson, B.C. 



Ginseng is shipped to China. The 

 Chinese seem to place the highest value 

 upon it as a medicine. They consider it 

 a cure for almost every ill of mind and 

 body. They use it also in their religious 

 rites. To find out its exact value to them 

 is rather difficult as they are reticent on 

 the subject but the fact that they are 

 willing to buy all that we can grow and 

 pay good prices is what interests us 

 most. It is said on good authority that 

 they would buy twenty times more each 

 year if it were available. Ginseng is 

 not a perishable crop, like grapes and 

 strawberries. When dry it becomes 

 staple, like tea, spices and tobacco. It 

 will keep for years. 



Outside of the money that may be 

 made out of vegetables, there is a place 

 for them in the home garden for the 

 home table. 



Questions of local importance in con- 

 templating the cultivation of vegetables 

 for commercial purposes are the cost of 

 transportation to market, whether by raii 

 or by road, and whether the available 

 markets usually pay good prices for gar- 

 den crops. 



DiiplaT by Oatario Vefetable Growers' Astociation at Canadian National Exhibition, Toronto 

 221 



