"Boston Marrow" and "Hubbard" have recently been grown for shipment. These are winter, running varieties, and must be planted from eight to ten feet apart. If one saves his own squash seed, he must avoid having any others of the same family growing near by. SOIL AND CULTIVATION. The squash is a little more hardy than the melon and cucumber, and is planted from about the last of February up to the middle of March, in the latitude of Savannah, and, of course, earlier to the southward. This crop requires a light, warm soil, and liberal manuring, particularly when planted so early. It is usually grown in hills four or five feet apart each way, the manure being dug in somewhat, as recommended for melons, at the rate of two shovelfuls to the hill. From six to ten seeds are sown to each hill, and the plants thinned to a stand after the development of a couple of rough leaves. Instead of growing in the hill, and leaving two plants in each as is usually practised, I prefer to manure in the drill, to sow the seed at two feet apart, and to leave, finally, but a single plant every two feet. If sown as early as March 1st, it is advisable to make at least a second sowing. The cultivation is the same as for cucumbers. MARKETING. If squashes intended for shipment to the Northern markets, were to be picked, or rather cut (for they should never be broken from the plant) in as green and tender condition, as for the local demand, they would arrive at their destination, bruised, blackened, and unsalable. Even if they could be delivered in sound condition, squashes in such an early stage of growth would not suit the trade. The proper time to pick them is when they have nearly attained their full growth, and for the scallop variety, just as they have lost the green, and are acquiring a white and glossy appearance. At this time the rind is still penetrable by the finger nail. Squashes may be shipped either in barrels or crates, and they must be so carefully packed as not to be bruised during transportation. INSECTS. The insects infesting the squash plant, besides the already mentioned striped-bug (Diabrotica vittata), which is more frequently on the cucumber, are: First The Twelve-spotted Squash-beetle (Diabrotica 12-punctata). Second-The Squash-bug (Anasa tristis). Third-The Squash vine-borer (Egeria cucurbitæ). Fourth-The Melon-worm (Phacellura hyalinitalis). Fifth-The Squash Lady-bird (Coccinella borealis). The injuries inflicted by, and the remedies applicable to the twelve-spotted squash-beetle, and the cucumberbeetle or striped-bug, are identical and are described under "Cucumber." The offensively smelling, rusty-black colored, hemipterous "squash-bug" affects the plant in the larval and perfect state. It destroys the leaves in a manner similar to the harlequin cabbage-bug, by sucking out their juice. The yellowish brown eggs are laid in little clusters on the underside of the leaves. Both eggs and insects are readily detected, and may be hand-picked. The squash vine-borer lives, and inflicts its injury within. the stem of the plant. The first indication of its presence is the wilting of the vine. The larvæ may be killed by destroying such vines, to prevent the increase of the insect. The melon-worm (see "Melon") only attacks the later crop of squashes, and should be destroyed whenever found. The squash lady-bird, is the only species of the Coccinellidae which does not befriend the farmer. This insect feeds both in its larval and perfect state upon the leaves of the squash. The eggs are deposited in groups on the under surface of the leaves. The color is dull yellow with nineteen black spots on the thorax and wing covers. Hand-picking is the remedy. CHAPTER XXVII. SWEET-POTATO (Ipomoea Batatas). Patate, French; Süsze Kartoffel, German. The native country of the Sweet-potato is unknown, some authors accrediting it to America, and others to the East Indies. It was used as a delicacy in England, long before the Irish potato was known, it having been imported from Spain. The plant was introduced into England by Gerarde in 1597. Were it not for the fact that the taste for this potato and the manner of cooking it at the North differ so much from that common at the South, the sweet-potato could be made a very profitable crop. Here it is baked, while at the North it is usually boiled. The most salable, and, in fact, the only extensively marketable variety in any of the Northern markets, is the "Delaware," Jersey," or, more correctly, the "Nansemond," (at one time called the "Brimstone"), which at the South is regarded as a most inferior sort, unfit for the table, unsalable in local markets, and, in consequence of its unproductiveness, unsuitable for cultivation. While boiling will make any of the Yam varieties mushy, baking renders the Nansemond like so much dry flour. Although I have several times received nine dollars and ten dollars per barrel for the Nansemond of the first quality, in Boston and Baltimore, 66 I have for years abandoned the crop. Many of the tubers do not attain a marketable size in time to anticipate the Virginia crop, or before August 1st, and therefore the whole fails to be remunerative. The other varieties produce few, but uniformly large, potatoes, while the Nansemond has a great number of small ones. Still, circum stances may alter the case, and others may succeed better with this variety than I have done. The sweet-potato would be then a profitable crop. The other varieties may produce from two hundred to eight hundred bushels to the acre; but several of the Yam varieties split open and become useless when highly manured and grown to a large size, say from two to six pounds. This objection does not apply to the Pumpkin Yam, which is also a productive and good table potato for home use. 66 The sweet-potato is propagated by "draws" (or "slips" in the up country, and "sets" or plants at the North), by "roots," as the Irish potato, and by "slips" or cuttings of the vines taken from the growing plants. The crop of the truck-farmer is grown only by "draws." The chief danger in producing these consists in killing the eyes by exposing them to too much heat. In this latitude, and further South, they are more safely grown in cold-frames, prepared about the last of January. The light, warm soil of a cold frame having been dug up, raked, and leveled, the seed potatoes are placed on the surface, a half-inch or so apart. Specimens of more than about two and a half inches in diameter may be divided in two, lengthwise, and the halves laid on the bed with the cut surface down. If the weather and the soil are dry, the potatoes may be watered and then covered evenly with about three and a half inches of light soil. The soil will settle a little. The frames should never be closely covered with the sash, even at night, except in cold weather, and never in bright sunshine. In dry weather, the soil may require watering. In case the draws are well grown, even commencing to "run" and crowd each other, before the season admits of their being transferred to the open ground, they may be drawn and heeled-in closely in another cold frame, to await favorable weather. In the meantime other sprouts will form for another pulling. To heel them in most expeditiously, a wedge-shaped opening is made across the bed, by plunging the spade into the moist soil to its full depth, and pushing it backwards and forwards. Such a drill will hold several hundred plants. The opening of the next drill, five or six inches distant, will press the soil to the roots of the plants in the first drill. They may be put out as soon as danger from frost is supposed to be past; in this latitude about April 1st, and earlier at the Southward. They may, however, precede other tender plants, for a hoar frost will not kill potato draws outright if they were properly transplanted. The soil best adapted to the sweet-potato is a warm, well-drained, light, sandy loam, or pure sand. PREPARING THE SOIL. This is an exception to all other vegetables, inasmuch that the soil should not be deeply stirred. A hard bottom to the row is needed to induce a short, plump growth of the potatoes. On deeply plowed, sandy soil, on a porous subsoil, the "Yellow Red" variety has grown over a yard in length and but an inch or less in diameter, and very few well-shaped potatoes were in a crop. If the surface is to be stirred, it should be done by a small plow as superficially as possible, or by means of a horse-hoe. The old-fashioned "listing," where the plants are to be put out on an elevated ridge, or bed, is the best preparation, the only objection being, that in case it is necessary |