PUMMELO 



PUMPKIN 



2N59 



that shaddocks have almost disappeared. H. H. Hume 

 lists only two varieties, the Mammoth, oblate, 5-6 

 inches diameter, flesh firm, white, sweetish, bitter; and 

 the Pink, oblate-pyriform, 6 x 6^j inches, flesh rough, 

 pink, bitterish, subacid. Other forms are occasionally 

 found but almost all are of very poor quality. 



Hybrids. Natural hybrids of the pummelo are com- 

 mon in Japan. They are mostly between the pummelo 

 and the Mandarin types of oranges. Some are of great 

 promise, however, being large, juicy, and very good- 

 flavored. The common Natsu mikan, a very flat fruit 

 4-5 inches diameter, 2} -3 inches high, ripening very 

 late in the season, is probably one of these hybrids. 

 This group of hybrids is very similar to the tangelo, 

 obtained by crossing the grapefruit with oranges of 

 the Mandarin type. In India there seem to be natural 

 hybrids between pummelos and lemons or citrons; pos- 

 sibly the group of citrous fruits called Amilbed by 

 Bonavia is of this nature. After discovering that some 

 varieties of pummelos are very resistant to citrus 

 canker, the author inaugurated in 1915 in Japan a 

 series of experiments in hybridizing the Florida grape- 

 fruit with different varieties of Japanese pummelos in 

 the hope of securing canker-resistent grapefruit-like 

 hybrids, as was noted above under Hirado pummelo. 



Sour pummelos. In India and other eastern coun- 

 tries very large acid-fleshed pummelos occur which are 

 said to yield up to a quart of juice. One such sour pum- 

 melo grown near Eustis, Florida, has been used in 

 breeding new types of acid fruits by hybridizing. 



WALTER T. SWINGLE. 



PUMPKIN AND SQUASH. Fruits, and the plants 

 that produce them, of species of Cucurbita, used for 

 food when cooked and also for stock-feed. See Cucurbita. 



In North America, the word pumpkin (colloquially 

 but incorrectly pronounced punkin) is applied to large 

 late-maturing globular or oblong fruits of forms of 

 Cucurbita Pepo, represented in the "field pumpkin" 

 (Fig. 3257), from which pies are made and which is 

 commonly fed to cattle and swine. The pumpkin is 

 characterized by a five-angled stem which is not 

 expanded where it joins the fruit (Fig. 1133, Vol. II), 

 by rough vines and herbage, and by prominently lobed 

 leaves. Sometimes the word is applied to some of the 



3257. Connecticut or common field pumpkin. Cucurbita Pepo. 



earlier forms of this species, as to the Sugar pumpkins 

 that ripen late in summer or early in autumn and are 

 used for pies. It is also applied to forms of Cucurbita 

 moschata, which, in the form known as Canada Crook- 

 neck squash, is sometimes called "pie pumpkin." 



The word squash is adapted from an American 

 Indian word, and is applied in an indefinite way to 

 various members of the genus Cucurbita. The appli- 

 cation of the name does not conform to the specific 

 lines of the plants. What are called summer squashes 



3258. Winter or Canada Crookneck 

 squash. Cucurbita moschata. 



are mostly varieties of Cucurbita Pepo, of the Crookneck 

 and Pattypan type. The winter squashes are either 

 C. maxima or C. moschata, chiefly the former. If the 

 name squash belongs to one species more than to 

 another, this species is probably C. maxima. This 

 species produces fruit with very firm or "solid" yellow 

 flesh. The pic- 

 tures on pages 

 909-911 in Vol. 

 II, show some of 

 the forms of these 

 species. Fig. 325S 

 is the Winter or 

 Canada Crook- 

 neck, one of the 

 forms of C. mos- 

 chata. Figs. 3259- 

 3262 are forms of 

 the multifarious 

 Cucurbita Pepo. A 

 further discussion 

 of the application of the vernacular names will be found 

 in Vol. II, page 909. 



Culturally, the pumpkins and squashes comprise one 

 group of warm-season frost-sensitive plants. They are 

 very easy to grow, provided they are given a warm and 

 quick soil. They are long-season plants (except the 

 "bush" varieties of summer squash), and therefore in 

 the North they are very likely to be caught by frosts 

 before the full crop has matured, unless the plants are 

 started early and make a rapid and continuous growth. 

 In hard rough clay lands the plants do not get a foot- 

 hold early enough to allow them to mature the crop. 

 On such lands it is impossible, also, to plant the seeds 

 early. As a consequence, nearly all squashes are grown 

 on soils of a loose and relatively light character. Sandy 

 lands or sandy loams are preferred in the northern 

 limits, but an open clay loam is probably the best soil in 

 general for these plants. On very rich bottom lands 

 the plants often thrive remarkably well, but there is 

 danger that they may run too much to vine, particularly 

 when the soil has too much available fertilizer. In order 

 that the plants shall start quickly, it is necessary that 

 the soil be in excellent tilth. It is customary, with many 

 large growers, to apply a little commercial fertilizer to the 

 hills to give the plants a start. A fertilizer somewhat 

 strong in nitrogen may answer this purpose very well; 

 but care must be taken not to use nitrogen too late in 

 the season, else the plants will continue to grow over- 

 vigorously rather than to set fruit. 



Pumpkins and squashes are of two general kinds, so 

 far as culture is involved, the bush varieties and the 

 long-running varieties. The bush types are usually 

 early. The vines run very little, or not at all. The 

 various summer squashes belong to this category, and 

 most of them are varieties of Cucurbita Pepo. The 

 hills of bush varieties are usually planted as close 

 together as 4 by 4 feet. On high-priced land they are 

 often planted 3 by 4 feet. The fruits are borne close 

 to the center of the plant. The long-running varieties 

 comprise the autumn and winter types; and to this 

 category may also be referred, for cultural purposes, 

 the common field pumpkins. There is much difference 

 between the varieties as to length of vine. On strong 

 soils, some varieties will run 15 to 20 feet, and some- 

 times even more, producing the fruit some feet from 

 the hill or the root. These varieties are planted from 

 8 to 12 feet apart each way. Sometimes they are 

 planted in corn-fields, and they are allowed to occupy 

 the ground after tillage for the corn is completed, but 

 with the introduction of corn-harvesting machinery 

 this practice is falling away. 



For general field conditions, the seeds of pumpkins 

 and squashes are usually planted in hills where the 

 plants are to stand. If the land is mellow and rich, these 

 hills are nothing more than a bit of ground 12 to 18 



