SQUASH AND MELON CULTUIIE. 9 



awards shall be made b}^ the several committees subject to such 

 approval. 



Adjourned to the first Saturday in February. 



MEETING FOR DISCUSSION. 



The Chairman uitroduced J. W. Pierce, of West Millbury, Mass., 

 who read the following Essay, for which a prize had been awaixled 

 b}' the Committee on Discussion : 



Squash and Melon Culture. 



BY J. W. PIERCE. 



Squashes. 



The squash is one of the most important of our garden vegetables. 

 It has been greatly improved within a few 3'ears, and is rapidly 

 gaining in public favor. In old times the common pumpkin was 

 used where squashes are now. Then not onl^^ pies were made of 

 pumpkins, but they were boiled and served for the table ; but how 

 they must have tasted compared with the Hubbard or Butman squash 

 of to-day ! I do not know of any plant which will produce so much 

 good, wholesome food for man or beast from an acre of land as the 

 squash, unless we except the cabbage, and b}^ the American people 

 the former is deemed vastly superior for the table. 



The origin and early history of the squash seem to be shrouded 

 in mystery, mainly owing to the readiness with which the different 

 varieties intermix with each other and with the pumpkin. Indeed 

 the distinction between a squash and a pumpkin is very indefinite ; 

 we all know a squash from a pumpkin, yet it is difficult to define 

 the diflJerence, and reall}^ there is more difference in flavor and looks 

 between different varieties of squashes than between some kinds of 

 squashes and some kinds of pumpkins. The squash belongs to the 

 same family with the pumpkin, watermelon, cucumber, and musk- 

 melon. These are all annual plants of the natural order, Cucurbi- 

 tacece, or Gourd family, which is of a tropical or subtropical origin. 

 2 



