248 THE BOOK OF USEFUL PLANTS 



summer squashes, the soft-fleshed, delicately flav- 

 ored members of the group. 



In California all kinds of squashes and pumpkins 

 grow to large size. Single specimens have been 

 exhibited that weighed over 300 pounds, and 

 accredited yields have gone above thirty tons to 

 the acre in an ordinary season. Fifty feet of 

 vine and a wagonload of fruit will be the yield of 

 a well-tilled vine. 



Professor Wickson, dean of the State College 

 of Agriculture, has published the following report 

 received from a farmer in Santa Barbara County, 

 and thereby he vouches for the truth of the 

 story : 



"1 planted my squashes in May, and harvested 

 them in October. Finding that they were un- 

 usually large, I weighed ten of the largest and 

 found that their aggregate weight was one ton 

 and fifty odd pounds, the largest weighing 225 

 pounds. This squash was exhibited at the county 

 fair, and received the first prize. 



On the fifteenth of October, which was my boy's 

 sixteenth birthday, I cut open one of the other 

 squashes that weighed 210 pounds, and took out 

 the seeds. My boy then got into it, and I put the 

 piece in place, completely closing him in. I then 

 persuaded my eighteen-year-old daughter to get 



