VEGETABLE MARROW

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 November 1939, Page 8

VEGETABLE MARROW

SEVERAL WAYS OF GROWING. The native habitat of the vegetable marrow is unknown, but it is probably somewhere in the East. In addition to being one of the most accommodating of crops, marrows are one of the easiest to cultivate, and in an ordinary season they produce large numbers of fruits. These should be cut when not more than half grown for immediate use, but if to be kept they are allowed to ripen. There are several methods of growing this crop, which is one we cannot overdo with farmyard manure or compost heap. One way is to take out a trench about two feet deep, to fill this with well-rotted manure, or compost heap, and put back the soil, forming a ridge or mound.

Another common practice is to make up a heap of rubbish and leaves with enough soil to give the plants a good start. Unsightly rubbish and compost heaps, and many odd corners may be clothed in this way with marrows. The seeds may be sown where the plants are to grow, but as they are very tender, and we often have cold, rough weather in early summer, it is advisable to cover the seedlings with a handlight or a box with sheets of glass on top until the end of November. Another way is to sow two seeds in five-inch pots and if both germinate pull one out. After being hardened off the plants arc put out, but they should be sheltered with scrubby branches for a few weeks at first. During the growing season marrows require lots of water and a top-dressing of blood and bone or suitable garden manure will assist growth. Peg the shoots down and

pinch out the tips to cause branching. Marrows are also successful when grown in cold frames over two feet of manure and six inches of good loam. Pumpkins require similar treatment to marrows, but they require more room to spread. Long Green or Long White are good marrows to grow.