292 GARDENING FOR PROFIT. 



and although they will grow readily on almost any soil, 

 yet there is hardly anything cultivated that will so well 

 repay generous treatment. Like all plants of this class, 

 it is useless to sow until the weather has become settled 

 and warm ; next to Lima Beans, Squashes should be the 

 last vegetable planted. Light soils are best suited for 

 their growth, and it is most economical of manure to 

 prepare hills for the seeds in the ordinary manner, by 

 incorporating two or three shovelfuls of well-rotted ma- 

 nure with the soil for each hill ; for the bush varieties,, 

 the hills should be from three to four feet each way, and 

 for the running sorts from six to eight feet. Eight or 

 ten seeds should be sown in each hill, thinning out after 

 they have attained their rough leaves, leaving three or 

 four of the strongest plants. 



They are extensively grown for market, but are not 

 sufficiently profitable for our highly cultivated gardens, 

 and are therefore grown rather as a farm -garden, crop. 

 They vary in profit, in our vicinity, of from $100 to 

 $25 per .acre. The early varieties are grown quite exten- 

 sively in the vicinity of Norfolk, Charleston and Savan- 

 nah, and shipped North, from two to four weeks earlier 

 than they can be had here, and, like all such commodi- 

 ties, bring three or four times the price of those grown 

 in this vicinity, in quantities that glut the market. 



The varieties are very numerous, and from the facility 

 with which they will cross, it is very difficult to retain 

 the different kinds pure. 



SUMMER VARIETIES. 



Yellow and White Bush Scalloped. (See figure 93.) 

 These varieties are the two kinds that are considered the 

 earliest, and are grown almost exclusively for market 

 for first crop. From the hard texture of the rind, they 

 are well fitted for shipping, and are grown exclusively at 



