372 



PLANTING LIST 



be disturbed when the plant is set in the field. Or start in little 

 frames out of doors. Some of its varieties, with the pumpkin, are 

 rather coarse ; but the finer are delicate. Not yet properly known 

 is the Vegetable Marrow, a squash cultivated widely in England 

 and Italy, and now offered by our own seedsmen. Set the plants 

 in hills, three to the hill ; the soil should be made rich with compost 

 or with old manure. Do not feed with nitrogen except in small 

 doses when young ; the plants will otherwise run to vine. 



Bush squashes should be given three feet or more of space ; run- 

 ning kinds should have at least six. To sow squashes with corn, 



as the farmer sows his 

 pumpkins, is fair neither to 

 the squashes nor the corn. 



Marrows are both bush 

 and running, and come in 

 several varieties. They may 

 be used to boil, like squash, 

 or when three-quarters 

 grown may be sliced and 

 fried, like eggplant. One 

 of the best ways in which to 

 use them, however, is to 

 take them when two or three 



Fig. 



209. — Marrows, Small and Big, 



with Blossoms. 

 Fry the blossoms in batter. 



inches long. As fast as the young fruits are picked, the plants set 

 more. These young fruits are very delicate. Squash, having a 

 coarser rind, cannot be so used. Squash blossoms are excellent 

 when fried in batter ; pick only the staminate blossoms, on the 

 long stems; the others are needed for fruiting. With the best 

 kinds of winter squashes allow only one fruit to each branch. 



The worst pest of squash is the squash bug. Watch for the shiny 

 brown eggs laid on the under side of the leaves, tear them off, and 

 destroy them. If the eggs escape you, and the bugs hatch, kill 

 them relentlessly, before they grow larger. If the cucumber 

 beetle attacks the young plants, poison them with pyrethrum or 

 hellebore, or pick them by hand. Mildew is often troublesome; 

 against it spray as for cucumber. 



