growth, foliage,
flowering, and in the odor and taste of the ripened fruit, it strongly
resembles the musk-melon. The fruit is slender and flexuous; frequently
measures more than three feet in length; and is often gracefully coiled
or folded in a serpent-like form. The skin is green; the flesh, while
the fruit is forming, is greenish-white,--at maturity, yellow; the seeds
are yellowish-white, oval, flattened, often twisted or contorted like
those of some varieties of melons, and retain their vitality five years.

_Planting and Cultivation._--The seeds should be planted in May, in
hills six feet apart. Cover half an inch deep, and allow three plants to
a hill.

_Use._--The fruit is sometimes pickled in the manner of the Common
Cucumber, but is seldom served at table sliced in its crude state. It is
generally cultivated on account of its serpent-like form, rather than
for its value as an esculent.

Well-grown specimens are quite attractive; and, as curious vegetable
productions, contribute to the interest and variety of horticultural
exhibitions.

* * * * *

THE SQUASH.

All the varieties are tender annuals, and of tropical origin. They only
thrive well in a warm temperature: and the seed should not be sown in
spring until all danger from frost is past, and the ground is warm and
thoroughly settled; as, aside from the tender nature of the plant, the
seed is extremely liable to rot in the ground in continued damp and cold
weather.

Any good, well-enriched soil is adapted to the growth of the Squash. The
hills should be made from eight to ten inches in depth, two feet in
diameter, and then filled within three or four inches of the surface
with well-digested compost; afterwards adding sufficient fine loam to
raise the hill an inch or two above the surrounding level. On this,
plant twelve or fifteen seeds; covering about three-fourths of an inch
deep. Keep the earth about the plants loose and clean; and from time to
time remove the surplus vines, leaving the most stocky and vigorous.
Three plants are sufficient for a hill; to which number the hills should
ultimately be thinned, making the final thinning when all danger from
bugs and other vermin is past. The dwarfs may be planted four feet
apart; but the running sorts should not be less than six or eight. The
custom of cutting or nipping off the leading shoot of the running
varieties is now practised to some extent, with the impression