496 MANUAL OF GARDENING 
March, protecting the young leaves from severe freezing by mats ot 
straw thrown over the frames. 
Seed may be sown in early spring for a succession; later in the season 
seed of the New Zealand summer spinach may be sown, and this will 
grow through the heat of the summer and yield a fine quality of leaves. 
The seed of this kind, being very hard, should be scalded and allowed 
to soak a few hours before sowing. This seed is usually sown in hills 
about 3 feet apart, sowing four to six seed in each hill. 
The spring and winter spinach should be sown in drills 12 to 
14 inches apart, one ounce being sufficient for 100 feet of drill. 
Remember that common spinach is a cool-weather (fall and spring) 
crop. 
Squash. —- The summer squashes rarely fail of a crop if they once 
escape the scourg> of the striped beetle (p. 201). The late varieties 
are not so certain; they must secure a 
strong start, and be on “ quick ”’ fertile 
warm land in order to make a crop be- 
fore the cool nights of fall (Fig. 315). 
The time of planting, method of prepar- 
ing the hills, and after-culture are the same 
as for cucumbers and melons, except that 
315. One of the so-called Jap- for the early bush varieties the hills should 
anese type of squash (Cu- be 4 or 5 feet apart, and for the later 
CATE SUDEONGI running varieties from 6 to 8 feet apart. 
From eight to ten seeds should be planted in each hill, thinning to 
four plants after danger from bugs is over. Of the early squashes, 
one ounce of seed will plant fifty hills; of the later varieties, one ounce 
will plant but eighteen to twenty hills. For winter use, varieties of 
the Hubbard type are best. For summer use, the Crooknecks and 
Scallop squashes are popular. In growing winter squashes in a North- 
ern climate, it is essential that the plants start off quickly and vigor- 
ously: a little chemical fertilizer will help. 
Pumpkins are grown the same as squashes. 
Sweet-potato is rarely grown north of Philadelphia; in the South it 
is a universal garden crop. 
