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THE HUBBARD SQUASH. 



Marblehead, Mass., Dec. 23d, 1857. 

 Daniel T. Curtis, Chairman of Vegetable Com. of Mass. Hort. Soc. 



Dear Sir, — Of the origin of the Hubbard squash we have no certain 

 knowledge. The facts relative to its cultivation, in Marblehead, are simply 

 these. Upwards of twenty years ago, a single specimen was brought into 

 town, the seed from which was planted in the garden of a lady, now de- 

 ceased ; a specimen from this yield was given to Capt. Knott Martin, of 

 this town, who raised it for family use a few years, when it was brought to 

 our notice in the year 1842 or '43. We were first informed of its good 

 qualities by Mrs. Elizabeth Hubbard, a very worthy lady, through whom we 

 obtained seed from Capt. Martin. As the squash up to this time had no 

 specific name to designate it from other varieties, my father termed it the 

 " Hubbard Squash." 



Up to the year 1855 the raising of this squash was confined to ourselves 

 and a few neighbors, who raised little if any more than was sufficient to 

 supply their respective families. I should, however, make the exception, 

 that from the year 1847, I had occasionally, when travelling, taken a few 

 seeds with me, and had distributed them among the farmers with whom I 

 chanced to come in contact. 



In the year 1855 a correspondent of the New England Farmer desired, 

 through its columns, to have recommended to him a good winter squash. It 

 occurred to me that here was an excellent opportunity to give a squash, 

 which had given us such great satisfaction, a wider sphere of usefulness. 

 I accordingly replied to the gentleman, enclosing seed of the Hubbard 

 squash, and requested him, as a stranger to me and therefore presumptively 

 an unbiassed judge of its merits, to make public the result of his experi- 

 ment. In April of the following year he published the result of his planting 

 in the columns of the New England Farmer, so highly eulogising its quality 

 and keeping properties that it was at once brought into notice. Many 

 applications now reached me for seed, and as it became necessary to give 

 some name, I determined to make Hubbard, (which up to this date had been 

 used as merely a convenient term,) its permanent name. 



These are all the facts which are known relative to the history of the 

 Hubbard squash, though it is possible that from a person not now accessible, 

 I may be enabled to trace its history a step further. 



In shape the Hubbard resembles the Marrow (or Boston squash, as it is 

 called in some localities,) but it has rather more of a neck than the Marrow, 

 and terminates more abruptly in a point, usually curved. In weight, it 

 ranges from four to twenty-four pounds ; but averages about the same as 

 the Marrow, viz., from five to eight pounds. Its color is a dark green, with 

 a dash of a dusty hue on the upper surface of the ripest specimens. There 

 is also a hard shelled blue variety, which in quality, size, &c, is about on 

 a par with the Hubbard, and we have considered it as equally desirable. 



