CHAPTER XXI, 



VINE OR CUCURBITOUS CROPS. 



" /CUCURBITOUS" is a fine large word, 

 \j but you don't need to learn it. All 

 vine crops are annuals and are tender to 

 frost, although all do not need a hot-bed start. 

 They are warm-season crops, and in the Northern 

 States most of them need a quick start so that 

 they can ripen before the summer is past. WeU- 

 prepared soil and a sunny exposure are desirable. 

 They transplant with such difficulty that they 

 are usually sown where they are to grow, but 

 if not, it is best to start them on sods turned 

 upside down, or in pots or boxes. They are 

 always a main crop and are planted in hills. 

 There is very Uttle difference in the cultivation of 

 any of them, and if you know how and where to 

 grow one, you wUl generally do well with the rest. 

 Where you fail, you may usually lay it to the 

 fact that your soil was not in condition to give 

 the young plants a good hold and to get a quick 

 start. If your soil is well prepared, well drained 

 and properly f ertUized, you will have httle trouble, 

 unless it may be from pests. The way to fight 

 those is to sow seed freely, and be content to lose 

 the greater part of your possible crop. 

 Some growers who make a specialty of melons 



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