64 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



arches, arbours, or pergolas. A pergola devoted entirely 

 to Gourds could easily be made a striking feature in 

 summer. The plants require to be grown on in warmth, 

 raising them from seeds sown in spring, and as they will 

 not stand frost, they must not be set outside before the 

 first week in June. Lateral shoots must be stopped and 

 the flowers fertilised to ensure a set of fruits. The soil 

 for them should be light and rich, say a mixture of loam, 

 three parts, and well rotted stable manure, one part. They 

 must be kept fairly moist at the root, watering in dry 

 weather being necessary. A mulch with light manure is 

 helpful to growth and fruitfulness, and it does most good 

 if applied about mid-August. In dry, hot weather the 

 plants are all the better for a sousing overhead with water 

 in the evening. 



There is a very good list of showy fruited Gourds, with 

 figures of many of them, in Robinson's Vegetable Garden, 

 an English edition of Les Plantes Potag&res, by Messrs. 

 Vilmorin-Andrieux & Co., which, by the way, is a most 

 comprehensive and trustworthy work on garden vegetables 

 of all kinds. There they are described under the headings 

 of Cucumbers, Gourds, Pumpkins, Melons, and Fancy 

 Gourds. The seeds are cheap, and whilst it has to be 

 remembered that the plants of this family intercross 

 readily, thus rendering purity of race somewhat precarious, 

 the seeds supplied by respectable dealers are fairly true 

 to name. 



