SQUASHES, AND HOW TO CULTIVATE. 243 



to get them beyond injury by the bugs. That is one reason 

 why we like to manure them in the hill. Put in the compost 

 broadcast, and reserve the guano, the hen manure and the 

 phosphates for the hill. I i^iake this rule, and where you have 

 Irishmen to deal with, it is a very good rule. I take my hand 

 full of guano, scatter it over a place about eighteen inches in 

 diameter, and then a man follows with a fork, and turns it 

 under about four inches. I excavate no hills at all. I have 

 given that plan up. I don't approve of putting the manure for 

 heat-loving vines down in cold holes. The idea is to stir about 

 twice each way, and have the man finally put his fork in the 

 middle of the hill and give it a twist. You cannot leave it to 

 their judgment ;, you must have a rule. 



We plant about half a dozen seeds to the hill. When they get 

 up, so as to show tlie third leaf, we thin out to three or four in 

 a hill ; but we finally tliin out to two in a hill ; and if it were 

 not for the borer, which sometimes plagues us, we would not 

 leave but one in a hill. We plant the squashes at right angles, 

 so that we can run the cultivator through easily. We follow 

 that with a hoe. We do not, as a rule, pull the earth round 

 the vines. If we find one that wants support, we just support it. 

 We do not dig any holes, and do not make any hills. I recom- 

 mend neither digging holes nor hilling. It saves a great deal 

 of work, and work that is not necessary. The habit of the 

 squash-vine is to send out its roots near the surface. They 

 want the heat of the sun, and where the roots have their choice, 

 they run just as near the surface as they can. But if you make 

 a hole and fill it up with manure, of course the roots will go 

 down after it. With onions, when we come to the final plough- 

 ing, we don't plough more than four or five inches deep. The 

 idea with onions, as with most of our crops, is not to have the 

 manure go too deep. 



In regard to gathering the crop, the farmer must exercise 

 judgment about that. When the squash is about ripe, let the 

 boys go along with a knife and cut the stems. They rot badly 

 when left out too long, exposed to wind and storms. There- 

 fore, we only let them stay out a day or two. In fact, I have 

 the men go and cut them and give them a turn over just where 

 they grew, and there they lie until I finally gather them. 



In regard to pease, I want to make a single remark, and that 



