THE PUMPKIX. 193 



when the excessively high prices of sugars and molasses pre- 

 vented their general use, it was the practice to reduce by 

 evaporation the liquid in which the pumpkin had been 

 cooked, and to use the saccharine matter thus obtained as a 

 substitute for the more costly but much more palatable sweet- 

 ening ingredients. When served at table in the form of a 

 vegetable, a well-ripened, fine-grained pumpkin was selected, 

 divided either lengthwise or crosswise ; the seeds extracted ; 

 the loose, stringy matter removed from the inner surface 

 of the flesh ; and the two sections, thus prepared, were baked, 

 till soft, in a common oven. The flesh was then scooped from 

 the shell, pressed, seasoned, and served in the usual form. 

 By many it is still highly esteemed, and even preferred for 

 pies to the squash, or the more improved varieties of pump- 

 kins ; but its cultivation at present is rather for agricultural 

 than for culinary purposes. 



A large, yellow, field variety, not unlike the Connecticut 



J Field Pump- 



Common lellow in form, but with a softer kin. 



skin, or shell. It is prolific, of fair quality as an esculent, 

 and one of the best for cultivating for stock or for agricul- 

 tural purposes. 



Plant hardy and vigorous, not distinguishable Lpng Yellow 

 from that of the Common Yellow variety ; fruit 3 kin Um 

 oval, much elongated, the length usually about twice the 

 diameter ; size large, well-grown specimens measuring six- 

 teen to twenty inches in length, and nine or ten inches in 

 diameter ; surface somewhat ribbed, but with the markings 

 less distinct than those of the Common Yellow ; color bright 

 orange-yellow ; skin of moderate thickness, generally easily 

 broken by the nail ; flesh about an inch and a half in thick- 

 ness, yellow, of good but not fine quality, usually sweet, but 

 watery, and of no great value for the table. 

 17 



