232 SQUASHES A!?D ASPARAGUS. 



old dung; throw thereon about 4 inches of earth, and 

 mix the dung and earth with the spade, draw the re- 

 mainder of the earth over the mixture so as to t'orm a 

 round hill about a foot broad at top. Plant in each near 

 the centre, 8 or 9 good seeds, distant 2 inches Irom one 

 another, and cover them about half an inch deep. When 

 the plants are in their rough leaves, thin them to 2. or 



3 in each hill, the extra number in some, may serve to 

 fill vacancies in others ; draw earth, from time to time, 

 round the hills, and as high about the roots of the plants 

 as the seed leaves ; when fit, stop them as directed for 

 cucumbers; after which, keep the ground, by frequent 

 hoeings, perfectly free from weeds. 



The ends of the runners, and the fruit last formed, 

 should be taken off', in order that the fruit first formed 

 may have more nourishment. The same method can be 

 taken to keep away insects as for cucumbers. 



Seeds brought from the southward are said to be best. 

 For saving the seeds, see garden seeds. 



SQUASHES. 



These, in all their varieties, are cultivated like Cu- 

 cumbers. (»See Pumpkins I28th page.^ 



4ASPARAGUS. 



This useful plant is best propagated from the seeds, 

 and its successful culture almost entirel}"^ depends on the 

 the proper quality of such seed. Hence, some of the 

 most promising buds should be marked with a stick, and 

 the seeds gathered when they are dead ripe. 



To make a bed, open a trench early in the spring 



4 feet wide, and one foot deep, in the warmest part of 

 the garden. Fill the trench half full of good barn dung, 

 mud, or a mixture of rich earth and dung ; level it, and 

 fill up the trench with good soil. Draw the drills 10 or 

 12 inches apart each way, and in the angles plant 2 or 3 

 seed about an inch deep. When the plants have been 

 up some time, they must be thinned, leaving only one 

 of the strongest in each place, and carefully cleared of 

 weeds. The first year or two a thin crop of onions may 

 be sowed in the intervals. When the haulm is yellow, 

 in the fall, and before the frost sets in, cut it off cltse to 



