18 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 



Boston Marrow. This is a very popular fall squash, of a bright 

 orange color, and is probably more extensivel}'^ raised by market 

 gardeners than any other variety. I do not lilve it, and do not con- 

 sider it worthy of cultivation as compared with the Turban. 



in. WINTER SQUASHES. 



Hubbard. This is the standard winter squash. Pure, well- 

 ripened specimens are of a brownish green color, with a shell of 

 flinty hardness. The flesh is very sweet and dry. It is an excel- 

 lent keeper, and is too well known to need any extended descrip- 

 tion. 



Butman. This is a new squash introduced b}^ Mr. Gregory, in 

 1875. It is a hybrid, originated by Mr. Butman, of Maine, and 

 was produced by crossing the Hubbard with the Yokohama, and 

 certainly is an acquisition. I consider it the best winter squash 3'et 

 produced. The Hubbard is the standard at the present time ; but 

 there are some points in the Butman which I think are an improve- 

 ment on the Hubbard. It is sweeter and finer grained ; hand- 

 somer and more attractive. The outside is of a beautiful green 

 with white spots, and the flesh is a sort of lemon color ; being 

 lighter and more delicate than the Hubbard, or most of the popular 

 sorts, and entirely free from those green streaks which are found in 

 the flesh of the Hubbard, next to the shell, and which injure its 

 appearance when served for the table. The shell is as hard as the 

 hardest Hubbard, and when quite ripe is often somewhat warty. 

 It seems to be a little later than the Hubbard ; the vines remaining 

 green after the other kinds are dead. They do not grow quite so 

 large as the Hubbard, but they set more thickly on the vines, and 

 will probably produce as much weight per acre. My largest 

 specimens this year weighed ten pounds, with the same cultivation 

 as produced specimens of the Hubbard weighing eighteen pounds. 

 The Butman may be called a pure bred squash, being remarkably 

 unifomi in color and quality, proving it to be a variety of established 

 purity, which it is diflicult to obtain in the squash family, and which, 

 when attained, requires great care to preserve. 



Marblehead. This is a new squash, introduced a few years since 

 by Mr. Gregory. When ripe it is covered with a hard shell similar 

 to the Hubbard, but of a bluish green color. It grows a little 

 larger than the Hubbard, and the flesh is brighter colored and freer 

 from green streaks, with a flavor very much the same. I have tried 



