SQUASHES 417 



to which have been added 3 pounds of arsenate of lead to each 

 50 gallons, should be kept up as long as the insects are trouble- 

 some. It is possible that the lime-sulphur spray so extensively 

 used as an insecticide on fruit trees may be of service for this pest. 



The squash-vine borer is less troublesome than either of the 

 others just mentioned, but it usually appears in large numbers 

 each year, and as its injuries are felt later in the season they are 

 seemingly more important than those that destroy the young plants. 

 This insect (Melittia satyriniformis Hbn.) attacks the plant near 

 the root, causing it to enlarge and assume a rough, corky appear- 

 ance. The presence of the characteristic borings will be detected. 

 Tobacco dust is a good preventive for this insect ; a knife with a thin, 

 narrow, sharp blade can, however, usually be used to split the stem 

 and at the same time destroy the borer without injury to the plant. 

 A safe practice is to mound earth over the main stalk of the plant 

 as soon as runners are formed. The roots will then form along the 

 buried portion of the stem, and if the main stalk of the plant is 

 destroyed the independently rooted runners will preserve the plant. 



Harvesting. The bush type of squash is harvested as soon as 

 the fruits are of edible size and before the shell begins to harden. 

 As soon as the shell hardens, the fruits are past the desirable edible 

 stage. As long as it is possible to make a cut through the skin 

 with a very light pressure of the thumb-nail the summer squash is 

 in fit condition for use. As soon as the shell becomes somewhat 

 resistant to such a test, it is too far advanced to be placed upon 

 the market. Not so, however, with the maxima and the moschata 

 types. The harder and the more resistant the shell, the better ; 

 but as the fruits of these types are seldom used before they are 

 thoroughly mature, this is a matter of small importance because 

 they normally produce the hard, resistant shell desired. 



The utmost care should be exercised in harvesting the maxima 

 and moschata types of squashes to prevent breaking off the stems 

 or bruising the shells. As soon as the hard, brittle shell is injured 

 or broken, decay is apt to set in and the loss of the squash is 

 the result. 



1 The maxima type is stored in large quantities, and it is there- 

 fore essential that from the time the vines are killed by frost 

 great care be taken to protect the squashes in every possible way. 



