PUMPKIN 



PUNICA 



2861 



good garden soil, but the richer it is the better. On a 

 rubbish-heap, for instance, vegetable marrow's grow 

 with wonderful vigor, and fruit abundantly." For 

 early results, they are often started under glass in pots. 

 There are many kinds or varieties. The custard mar- 

 rows are fruits of the Scallop or Pattypan kind. The 

 summer Crookneck is little used abroad for food. 



Insect enemies and diseases of pumpkins and squashes 

 are several. Perhaps the most serious is the striped 

 cucumber beetle, which destroys the tender young 

 plants. This insect is destroyed with the arsenicals 

 applied in flour, also with tobacco powder and some 

 other materials; but since it works on the under sides 

 of the leaves as well as on the upper, it is difficult to 

 make the application in such way as to afford a com- 

 plete protection. The insects also are likely to appear 

 in great numbers and to ruin the plants even whilst 

 they are getting their fill of arsenic. If the beetles are 

 abundant in the neighborhood, it is best to start a few 

 plants very early and to plant them about the field in 

 order to attract the early crop of beetles, thereby mak- 

 ing it possible to destroy them. From these early 

 plants the beetles may be hand-picked, or they may be 

 killed with very heavy applications of arsenicals, 

 applications so strong that they may even injure the 

 plants. Sometimes the hills of squashes are covered 

 with wire gauze or mosquito netting that is held above 

 the earth by means of hoops stuck into the ground. 

 This affords a good protection from insects that arrive 

 from the outside, providing the edges are thoroughly 

 covered with earth so that the insects cannot crawl 

 under; but if the insects should come through the ground 

 beneath the covers they will destroy the plants, not 

 being able to escape. The arsenicals should be applied 

 when the dew is on, or the plants may be sprayed with 

 bordeaux mixture to which the poison has been added. 

 The squash bug or stink-bug may be handled in the 

 same way as the striped cucumber beetle. This insect, 

 however, remains throughout the season and, in many 

 cases, it is necessary to resort to hand-picking. The 

 insects crawl under chips or pieces of board at night, 

 and this fact may be utilized in catching them. The 

 young bugs can be killed by tobacco extract and soap, 

 and by some of the emulsions. 



The stem-borer attacks the vines later in the season, 

 boring into the main stalk near the root, and causing 

 the entire plant to lose vigor or to die. It is a soft white 

 larva. As a safeguard, it is well to cover the vines at the 

 joints with earth after they have begun to run, so that 

 roots will form at these places and sustain the plant 

 if the main stem is injured. The borers may also be cut 

 out with a thin-bladed knife. 

 Tobacco dust is said to keep 

 the insect away. Infected 

 vines should be burned to 

 destroy larvae and eggs. 



A wilt disease, caused by 

 a species of bacillus, some- 

 times does damage to species 

 of Cucurbita. The disease 

 is likely to be associated 

 with the punctures of the 

 striped beetle. Burn the 

 infected plants. 



The summer squashes 

 are eaten before the shell 

 becomes hard, and not 

 afterward. A thoroughly 

 mature Crookneck or Scallop is not used and not 

 marketable. The late forms of Cucurbita Pepo, like 

 the field pumpkin, are not long keepers, but the 

 late squashes of the C. maxima type, as Hubbard, 

 Boston Marrow, and Marblehead, can be kept till late 

 spring. To keep these late squashes, care should be 

 taken to have them full grown, with hard shells, not 

 frosted or otherwise injured; they should be harvested 



3262. The Negro squash. One 

 of the warty forms of Cucur- 

 bita Pepo. 



with the stem on, and much care should be exercised 

 to prevent any bruising or rough handling. In a rather 

 dry and somewhat dark cellar, with a temperature of 

 about 40, such fruits may be kept all winter. Commer- 

 cial growers store them in above-ground houses built 

 for the purpose, placed only one layer deep on racks or 

 shelves. The house is well insulated to prevent fluctua- 

 tion, kept dry, and provided with a stove or other heat 

 for very cold weather, the temperature maintained at 



3263. Vegetable marrow. Cucurbita Pepo 



about 40 to 45 F. The following advice on the storing 

 of squashes was written for the "Cyclopedia of American 

 Horticulture" by W. W. Ptawson: "Cut the squashes 

 just before they are thoroughly ripe. Be careful not to 

 start the stem in the squash. Lay them on the ground 

 one deep and let them dry in the sun two or three days 

 before bringing to the building. Handle very care- 

 fully when putting in, and be sure that the wagon in 

 which they are carried has springs. Put them two deep 

 on shelves in a building. This should be done on a cool, 

 dry day. If the weather continues cool and dry, keep 

 them well aired by day; but, if damp weather comes, 

 build a small fire in the stove in order to dry out the 

 green stems. Keep the temperature about 50, and air 

 well in dry weather. The squashes may need picking 

 over about Christmas if put in the building about 

 October 1; handle very carefully when picking over. 

 Fifty tons can be kept in a single building with a small 

 fire. Do not let them freeze, but if temperature goes 

 down to 40 at tunes it will do no harm; nor should it 

 be allowed to go as high as 70. The Hubbard squash 

 keeps best and longest and does not shrink in weight as 

 much as other kinds; but any of them will shrink 20 

 per cent if kept until January 1." L H. B. 



PUNICA (Punicus, Carthaginian: hence Malum 

 punicum, "apple of Carthage," an early name of the 

 pomegranate). Punicacese. A small branched tree, 

 the branches rather terete and spiny. The common 

 pomegranate of cultivation. 



Leaves opposite, subopposite and fascicled in short 

 branches: fls. in simple axillary racemes, small, white; 

 calyx persistent, 5^-7-lobed; petals 5-7, lanceolate, 

 corrugate; ovary inferior: berry spherical, thick- 

 skinned, many-celled. Two species, Orient to N. W. 

 India. For cult., see Pomegranate. 



Granatum, Linn. POMEGRANATE. A large deciduous 

 shrub or small tree, with oblong or oboyate, obtuse, 

 entire, glabrous and more or less shining Ivs.: fls. 

 orange-red, showy; calyx tubular, the short lobes per- 

 sistent on the top of the fr. (as on an apple); petals 

 inserted between the lobes; ovary imbedded in the 

 calyx-tube (or receptacle -tube), comprising several 

 locules or compartments in two series (one series above 

 the other), ripening into a large, juicy, many-seeded 

 pome-like berry. Persia to N. W. India. G.W. 10, p. 

 510. A handsome plant, with showy fls. 1 in. across 



