SQUASHES. .141 



SQUASHES. 



These are seldom found in market-gardens ; they belong 

 properly to the farm-garden, and are well adapted fpr ship- 

 ping. They are grown to some extent at the South for 

 Northern markets, coming considerably earlier than we 

 can produce them, and the season may be advanced there 

 a-s well as here, by starting the early varieties on sods, in 

 cold-frames, as directed for cucumbers, thereby also, in a 

 measure, avoiding the " striped bug." 



Soil, Planting, etc, The soil for squashes should be 

 a light loam. 



The season for planting in the open ground is the middle 

 of May. 



The preparation is the same as for melons or cucumbers, 

 as is also the after-cultivation. Plant the early or bush 

 varieties five by four feet, and the late or running sorts 

 twelve by six feet apart. The same attention must also 

 be paid to the " striped bug," which is very destructive 

 to these plants. 



Marketing. The early varieties are marketable when 

 scarcely half-grown, always before the skin becomes hard, 

 and may be shipped in barrels. They require some care 

 in cutting and handling to avoid bruising. The late sorts 

 must be allowed to ripen, and can be shipped in barrels or 

 in bulk. 



Seed, Great care should be taken to grow varieties far 

 apart, as they readily mix in the blossom, and moreover 

 they should not be grown near melons nor anything of 

 this nature. When ripe, which may generally be deter- 

 mined by the hardness of the skin, the squashes may be 

 gathered, cut open with a hatchet, the seeds scraped out, 

 and afterwards treated as directed for cucumber seeds. 



It retains its vitality ten years. 



