==Frame culture== is of some importance, because early Marrows are highly valued at good tables.  For this business the neat-growing, small-fruited kinds should be chosen, as they yield a great crop in a small compass.  The best place for an early crop of Marrows is a brick pit, with hot-water pipes for top heat, and a bed of fermenting materials for bottom heat.  It is no difficult matter to obtain a supply in a house with Cucumbers, but it is better to grow the Marrows apart, as they require less heat and less moisture than Cucumbers.  In making up the bed, it is well to employ leaves largely, say to the extent of one-half, the remainder being stable manure that has been twice turned.  Such a bed will give a mild heat for a great length of time, and the plants can be put out upon it within three days of its being made up.  When grown in a common frame, the arrangements are much the same as advised for the frame cultivation of the Cucumber, the chief points of difference being that Marrows should have less heat and more air.  The temperature for Marrows under cover may range from 55 deg. the minimum, to 80 deg. the maximum; the safe medium being about 65 deg. when the weather is cold and dull; running to 80 deg. when strong sunshine prevails, and the plants are growing freely with plenty of air.  As for the general management, a bed nine inches deep of good fibrous loam is required, with regular supplies of water of the same temperature as the pits, so that the bed is always reasonably moist, and every evening a slight syringing over the leaves and the walls before shutting up.  The training out is a very simple matter.  Let the vines run in their own way until they have made shoots eighteen inches long, then nip out the points.  After this there must be no more stopping, but occasionally the laterals must be suppressed to prevent crowding.  Give air freely at every opportunity, and be careful not to administer too much water, or the blunder will result in a deficiency of fruit.

To grow Marrows in the open air, the best course of procedure is to remove a portion of the top soil, to form a shallow trench four feet wide.  Into this carry one foot to eighteen inches depth of half-rotten manure, or a mixture of equal parts of manure and leaves, and cover with the soil that was taken out.  This will produce a very gentle hot-bed that will last until the natural ground heat is sufficient to keep the plants in vigorous health.  The middle of May is quite early enough to make up the bed, and in the course of two or three days the plants may be put out.  Cover with hand-lights or small frames, which on the following day should be tilted at bottom to admit a little air, and if strong sunshine occurs, a Rhubarb leaf may be laid over to subdue the glare upon the young plants.  We will suppose these plants to have been raised in a Cucumber frame from seeds sown in April.  If plants are not available, sow seeds in patches of two or three on the bed, and cover