308 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



most wonflerfal. They grow away from the light, and send their branches into 

 crevices of old bark and rocks. Sometimes such tendrils are said by Mr. Dar- 

 win to actually show a power of choosing one place of attachment in prefer- 

 ence to another, by penetrating a cavity and then withdrawing to seek a more 

 satisfactory one. As soon as the tendrils of the creeper find a support, the 

 branches spread out their tips and press them against it. Little pads of hard 

 cellular tissue are now developed at the points of contact, and the tendril coils 

 on itself and becomes very tough and woody. At the end of the first season it 

 dies, but remains firmly fixed to its support for many years. Mr. Darwin found 

 one, which, though ten years old, was not detached by a weight of ten pounds 

 from the wall to which it had adhered. 



STEUCTUEE OF SQUASH VINE. 



The chemical constitution of the squash vine under observation has not yet 

 been determined; but its anatomical structure, in all its parts, may be readily 

 understood by an examination of the figures appended to this paper, which are 

 accompanied by detailed explanations. The vine, the petioles, the flower- 

 stalks, the tendrils and the fruit were hollow, so that about thirty per cent of 

 the apparent size Avas simply air. The greater proportion of the remainder was 

 water, so that less than ten per cent of the entire volume was solid, dry mate- 

 rial. The large, yellow flowers were arranged in regular succession, one at each 

 node. A female flower was usually succeeded by four males, so that on such a 

 vine a squash would be produced at every fifth node, if every one should set, — 

 which, however, never happens. The impregnation of the ovules within the 

 ovary of the female flower requires the deposition of pollen-grains from the 

 anther-cells of the male flower upon the stigma of the former under favorable 

 circumstances. The stigmatic surface must be in a proper condition to retain 

 and develop the pollen, which must be in a perlect state. Bright, warm 

 weather will doubtless aid in the process, though many observations are still 

 needed concerning this subject. The pollen-grains of the squash are large and 

 rough, and of a spherical form, and consist of an outer and inner coating of 

 membrane filled with a protoplasmic fluid. In the outer coating is a minute 

 orifice, through which, when moistened by the saccharine secretion of the 

 stigma, the inner coating protrudes as a microscopic, structureless tube, which 

 pushes its way through the tissues of the style and ovary until it reaches the 

 embryo-sac of an ovule, which may then become a perfect seed. This contact 

 of the pollen-tubes with the ovules is essential to the setting of every squash. 

 The transfer of the pollen-grains to the stigmas is usually accomplished by in- 

 sects which fly from flower to flower in pursuit of food. It may, also, be done 

 artificially, and there is reason to believe that the crop of squashes, melons and 

 cucumbers might often be largely increased by attention to this matter in out- 

 door cultivation. When grown under glass, fertilization must always be 

 effected by artificial means. 



HAENESS FOE SQUASH. 



The pistillate, or female flower, on the twenty-first node of the growing vine, 

 was artificially impregnated with pollen from a staminate, or male flower, ou 

 the first of August. The young squash immediately began to enlarge, and, oa 

 the fifteenth of the same month, measured twenty-two inches in circumference; 

 on the sixteenth, twenty-four inches, and on the seventeenth, twenty-seven. 

 Though the rind of the young fruit was very soft, it was now determined to 

 confine it in such a way as to test its expansive power. In doing this, great 



