THE PUMPKIN. 109 



practised with the Hubbard Squash, or other hard-shelled 

 varieties of pumpkins. It is an excellent pie-variety, and 

 selected specimens will be found of good quality when served 

 as squash at the table. Season from February to March. 



Fruit similar to the Common Yellow Field- striped Field- 

 pumpkin. The size, however, will average P um P " n - 

 less ; although specimens may sometimes be procured as 

 large as the dimension given for the Common Yellow. 

 Color yellow, striped and variegated with green, after 

 being gathered, the gr.een becomes gradually softer and 

 paler, and the yellow deeper ; flesh yellow, moderately 

 thick, and, though by some considered of superior quality, 

 has not the fine, dry, and well-flavored character essential 

 for table use ; seed similar to the foregoing sorts. 



The Striped Field-pumpkin is hardy, and yields well. It 

 is, however, exceedingly liable to hybridize with all the 

 varieties of the family, and is with difficulty preserved in 

 an unmixed condition. 



Fruit eight or nine inches at its broadest Sugar-pump- 

 diameter, and six inches in depth ; form SMALL^UGAE- 

 much depressed, usually broadest near the 

 middle, and more or less distinctly ribbed ; skin bright 

 orange-yellow when the fruit is well 

 ripened, hard and shell-like, and 

 not easily broken by the nail ; stem 

 quite long, greenish, furrowed, and 

 somewhat reticulated ; flesh of good 

 thickness, light yellow, fine-grained, 

 sweet, and well flavored ; seeds of 

 smaller size than, but in other re- 

 spects similar to, those of the Field- 

 pumpkin. 



The variety is the smallest of the 

 sorts usually employed for field cul- 

 tivation. It is, however, a most sugar-pumpkin. 



