HOW TO GROW BIG SQUASHES. 



Sir, I send you picture of three big squashes 

 which grew in Goderich last year and exhibit- 

 ed at our fall show. This picture was taken 

 when coming from the fair, with myself stand- 

 ing at the back ; they weigh 388£, 355|, and 

 344 lbs. each. I thought it might be a suitable 

 souvenir of the productiveness of our great 

 province to be placed in your office where 

 visitors could see it. 



Wm. Wabnock. 



Mr. Wm. Warnock of Goderich has 

 certainly made himself famous by the 

 marvellous sample of Rennie's Mam- 

 moth Squash, which he exhibited at the 

 Columbian Exposition in 1893. It 

 was the wonder of our visitors, whom 

 we always took around to see the big 

 squash that beat the world. California 

 came nearly up to us but failed by a 

 few inches of the size of our Ontario 

 giant, which weighed 365 lbs. 



We have often thought that some of 

 our readers might be interested in 

 monstrosities in the vegetable line and 

 would gladly welcome the secret of Mr. 

 Warnock's wonderful success, and since 

 he freely sends us the following direc- 

 tions for growing big squashes, we wil- 

 lingly give them a prominent place. 



" My land is made in good condi- 

 tion, being heavily manured every year, 

 it is of gravelly formation with about 

 sixteen inches of clay loam on top. A 

 three hundred pound squash can be 

 grown on any part of it by the following 

 method of cultivation : For each hill I 

 intend to plant, about the first of April 

 I take two good wheelbarrow loads of 

 hen manure, and mix with four barrows 

 of good soil taken from some other part 

 of the lot, this is mixed a second time 

 the middle of April. The first of May 

 I add four barrows of well-rotted man- 

 ure and mix thoroughly, then about the 

 eighteenth of May make hills and 

 plant, dig out a space seven feet in 

 diameter and fourteen inches deep, fill 



in my compost mixing, and with it some 

 of the best earth which was thrown out, 

 and when finished, the hill will be about 

 ten feet in diameter and six inches 

 higher in the centre than the surround- 

 ing level. Then plant the seed. Hills 

 want to be about twenty feet apart ; 

 work the ground well until the" plants 

 commence to run. When about three 

 feet long I mulch the ground all over 

 for twenty feet in diameter around each 

 hill with horse manure three inches 

 deep, and stake the vines down with 

 sticks to keep the wind from rolling 

 them about, so that they may root at 

 every joint. It is of great advantage to 

 keep the vine from fruiting as long as 

 possible, by pruning all fruit bloom off 

 until about the last week in July ; this 

 will give time enough to mature a three 

 hundred pound squash by the first of 

 October, for there must be a big vine to 

 produce a big squash. I practice fer- 

 tilizing a few of the first bloom that 

 come, when I think the vine is strong 

 enough to grow a good specimen, by 

 cutting off some of the fresh false 

 bloom, trim the corolla or flower leaf 

 off, and rub the stamen in around the 

 fresh fruit bloom. This is necessary 

 when fruit bloom opens on a morning 

 that is unfavorable for bees to do their 

 work, and it assures the setting of the 

 specimens just where you want them. 

 It also gives extra vigor to the growth 

 of fruit to be well pollenized. When 

 the first perfect specimens have set well, 

 say four or five inches in diameter, cut 

 all other fruit and blossoms off, and nip 

 the ends off the vines and all bloom 

 that shows twice a week, so that the 

 vine is not exhausted with the great 

 quantity of false bloom that would 

 naturally come. Now while the great 

 growth of the squash is going on I use 



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