310 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



care was taken to preserve the health andsounclnessof every part of thesqvxash, 

 and to expose at least one-half of its surface to the air and the light. The ap- 

 paratus for testing its growing force consisted of a frame, or bed, of seven-inch 

 boards, one foot long. These were arranged in a radial manner, like the 

 spokes of the lower half of a wheel, their inner edges being turned toward the 

 central axis. These pieces were held firmly in place by two end-boards, twelve 

 inches square, to the lower half of which they were secured by nails and iron 

 rods. A henii-ellipsoidal cavity, about five inches deep in the centre and eight 

 inches long, was cut from the inner edges of the seven boards, and in this the 

 squash was carefully deposited, the stem and vine being carefully protected by 

 blocks of wood from injury by compression. Over the squash was placed a 

 semi-cylindrical harness, or basket of strap iron, firmly riveted together. The 

 meshes betw^een the bands, which crossed each other at right-angles, were about 

 one inch and a half square. The harness was twelve inches long and the same 

 in width, so that when placed over the squash it just filled the space between 

 the end-boards. Upon the top of the harness, and parallel with the axis of 

 the cylinder and the squash, was fastened a bar of iron with a knife-edge to 

 serve as the fulcrum of a lever to support the weights by wiiich the expansive 

 force was to be measured. At first, an iron bar, one inch square, was used for 

 a lever, then a larger bar of steel, then a lever of chestnut plank, then one of 

 seasoned white oak plank,and finally, one of chestnut, five by six inches square, 

 and nine feet long; but even this required to be strengthened by a plate of 

 iron four inches wide by half an inch thick and five feet in length. The 

 fulcrum for the lever was also renewed from time to time as the weight was 

 increased. 



THE WEIGHT OF IROK. 



The following table shows the weight of iron lifted by the squash in the 

 course of its development: 



August 21 .... 60 pounds. 



" 22 69 



" 23 91 " 



" 24 162 " 



" 25 _ 225 



26 1 277 '• 



" 27 350 



'• 31 500 '• 



September 11 1,100 " 



13 .-- 1,200 



14.. 1,300 



" 15 _ 1,400 



" 27 - 1,700 



" 30 2,015 



October 3 . 2,115 



" 12. 2,500 



" 18... 3,120 



" 24 4,120 " 



" 31 5,000 " 



The last weight was not clearly raised, though it was carried ten days, on 

 acconnt of the failure of the harness irons, which bent at the corners under the 

 enormous pressure of two and a half tons, and consequently broke through the 



