422 The Principles of Vegetable -Gardening 



the Cushaws or Winter Crooknecks, Dunkard, Tennessee Sweet 

 Potato pumpkin, and some others. 



It is now believed that Cucurbita Pepo and C. maxima are 

 natives of tropical America, although they are unknown anywhere 

 in a truly wild state. C. moschata may be east-Asian. See Gray 

 and Trumbull, Amer. Journ. Sci. 25, p. 372; Sturtevant, Amer. 

 Nat., July, 1885, pp. 658-663, and Aug., 1890, pp. 727-744; Witt- 

 mack, Berichte der Deutsehen Bot. Gesell., 6, p. 378. For de- 

 scriptions of varieties, see Goff, 6th Rep. N. Y. State Exp. Sta., 

 pp. 243-273; 55 varieties of squashes and pumpkins are described. 

 For insects and diseases, see: 



Squash bug, N. J. Bull. 94; N. Y. Bull. 75, very good desc. 

 and ill. ; Fla. Bull. 34. Keep fields free from rubbish. 

 Trap with bits of squash leaves, etc. Examine daily. 

 In early spring pick old bugs. 



Melon louse, N. Y. Bull. 75 ; N. J. Bull. 94, good, with ill. ; 

 Ky. Bull. 53; Use bisulfide carbon, or hydrocyanic acid 

 gas: Get at winter quarters. Check first appearance. 

 Powdery mildew, Mass. State Rept. 1892, p. 225, with plate; 

 Cornell Bull. 3.1; Cornell: ammoniacal copper carbonate. 

 Downy mildew, Mass. State Rept. 1890, p. 211, with plate; 

 N. Y. Bull. 119, excellent; N. Y. : Bordeaux (1 to 8 for- 

 mula) once every 8 or 10 days to frost. 



OTHER CUCURBITS 



Various other cucurbitous fruits are grown for eating. Of 

 late years, Benincasa cerifera, the wax gourd of the Orient, has 

 been introduced as the Chinese preserving melon. It is used for 

 the making of preserves and sweet pickles. The fruit is the size 

 of a watermelon, hairy, and usually having a waxy covering. 

 Cultivation as for muskmelon. See Cornell Bull. 67. 



The Dish-Cloth gourds or Vegetable Sponges, two species of 

 Luffa, are in cultivation as curiosities and for the fibrous interior, 

 which is used, when dried and macerated, as a sponge. The 

 young fruit may be eaten when cooked or dried, but it is scarcely 

 known as a kitchen -garden product in this country. 



