MARKET GARDENING 237 



early start and rapid growth, and the early out-door 

 crop often sells for from five to ten cents per pound. 



This crop may be forced under the benches of a 

 greenhouse or in a warm house or stable cellar. Strong 

 young plants of two to three buds are dug just before 

 the ground freezes and with a little soil upon them 

 packed upon the north side of a wall or shed to freeze. 

 After freezing for a few weeks they are packed closely 

 under the bench, in the cold frame, or in the cellar with 

 a little soil about them, where they are to be forced. 

 A temperature of about 40 should be kept up at first, 

 gradually increasing it until it runs to about 50 at 

 night and 60 to 70 during the day. No light is 

 needed, the stalks being longer and of a more delicate 

 color in darkness than in light. Rhubarb is sold by the 

 pound, in some markets, tied in one, two and three 

 pound bunches, but in others it is sold loosely in bushel 



boxes. 



SQUASHES. 



Squashes, like melons, require a great deal of heat 

 but are not as much subject to disease as the latter. 

 It is a sort of chance crop, for if planted very early it is 

 often destroyed by bugs or maggots at the roots, or if 

 planted late to escape these pests the crop is often cut 

 off by frosts or fails to ripen so as to keep well. It is a 

 crop that can be cheaply grown, and when it does escape 

 the many chances it is often a very profitable one. For 

 the best results newly turned over turf land is generally 

 selected. It is deeply plowed, worked very fine and 

 mellow, and furrowed in squares 6x6 feet. Manure or 

 fertilizer is placed at the intersections and thoroughly 

 worked in, raising the hill a few inches above the level 

 that surface water may run off quickly. From five to 

 ten seeds are planted in each hill from the ist to the 

 loth of June for New England, covering them one- 



