76 ON VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. 



R. C. Fletcher, Danvers, seedling potatoes 25 



Capt. Hutchinson, Salem, mountain com 25 



I take the liberty, of appending to this Report, a private let- 

 ter just received from Dr. Harris, which will be estimated 

 highly both from the instruction it contains, and the source 

 whence it comes. In these days of talk about scientific in- 

 struction, I know of no purer fountain, whence it can 

 be drawn. 



Cambridge, Mass., Nov. 6, 1851. 

 J. W. Proctor. Esq. 



Dear Sir, — Last evening, your box and squashes came safe 

 to hand. I am much obliged to you for forwarding them. 

 The squashes are indeed "genuine," but not the old Valparai- 

 so, introduced by Commodore Porter, some twenty-five or 

 more years ago. They are the "autumnal marrow squashes," 

 first described by Mr. Ives, of Salem, and through him recom- 

 mended and introduced to general cultivation in this vicinity ; 

 and, though subject to vary and degenerate by mixture with 

 other kinds, they have almost excluded the others from our 

 markets by reason of their acknowledged superiority. There 

 is, indeed, but one kind which can compare with them in 

 goodness, namely that which is called the acorn squash, of 

 which I shall be happy to distribute the seeds. The autumnal 

 marrow squash is an improved variety, apparently originating 

 from Porter's Valparaiso squash. It was first cultivated in 

 Northampton, whence Mr. Ives procured the seeds. This 

 summer, I raised in my garden a squash weighing twenty-five 

 and three quarter pounds, and three feet six and a quarter inches 

 in circumference. From my own recollection, and from descrip- 

 tions given to me by others, I believe it will turn out to be 

 the Porter Valparaiso squash. The color is blueish green, 

 striped with whiteish lines, and irregularly varied with orange- 

 colored blotches. But color is of less importance and less con- 

 stant than other characters. This squash has a little knob at 



