THE 
GARDEN YARD 184 
or cucumbers, plant squash and pumpkin seed 
very early in the field that the young plants may 
attract the striped beetle and give the farmers the 
opportunity to kill the pest before the real crops 
are taken from the frames. That is a method 
of deceiving the creatures, but the end justifies 
the means. 
Unless you live where the climate is cold 
and the season short, you may plant squash, 
pumpkin and cucumber in the open fields where 
they are to grow. Otherwise start them in 
frames, as muskmelons are started. The land 
should be given the best of surface tillage, and 
every effort should be made to start the plants 
so well that the fruits will have set before mid- 
summer. All these vine plants need much 
moisture in the soil and if the preparation-tillage 
be neglected, no amount of after-tillage can 
make up for the first loss. 
Watch the vines carefully so as to prevent one 
fruit setting much in advance of the others. It 
is better to pick the first one off if it is much 
ahead of the main crop. Otherwise there will 
be no uniformity of size or quality. If your 
plants run too much to vine, pinch off the shoots 
and let the vigor go to fruit-making. 
These crops often succeed as early crop and 
main-season crop, by starting one about two weeks 
