174 VEGETABLE GROWING PROJECTS 



merous varieties to which these names are applied. It is almost 

 impossible to know just what is meant by the terms squash and 

 pumpkin unless other descriptive terms are used. The name 

 squash is said to be adapted from an American Indian word. 

 Some of the forms were being cultivated by the Indians when 

 America was discovered, others are doubtless natives of tropical 

 Asia and Africa. 



In some forms the plants are bushy ; others have trailing vines. 

 The stems are rough and the trailing forms have a tendency to 

 root at the nodes. The various forms differ in the shape of the 

 leaves and the character of the fruit stalk, as well as in the fruits 

 themselves. Three specie's may be recognized which are variously 

 subdivided. These three species may be roughly separated as 

 follows : 



(1) Pumpkin, summer squash, crookneck, scallop, and gourd 

 (in part), having lobed leaves and ridged fruit stalks which are 

 not enlarged next to the fruit. 



(2) Winter or Canada Crookneck squash and Cu^haw or pie 

 pumpkin of the South, having lobed leaves and ridged fruit stalks 

 which are much enlarged next to the fruit. 



(3) Hubbard, Turban, and Marblehead squash, having leaves 

 not lobed, fruit stalks not much ribbed. 



In the first species, the true pumpkins, the plants have rather 

 robust, long, trailing stems. This group includes the common and 

 field pumpkins. The summer squashes, crooknecks, and scallops 

 have bushy, more compact plants. In the summer squashes and 

 crooknecks, the fruit has a narrow crooked neck and the rind is 

 covered with warts or humps. The scallops have fruits broader 

 than long, with scalloped edges and a smooth rind. The gourds 

 have slender, running stems with fruits comparatively small and 

 a very hard rind. They are not edible. In the second species 

 the plants are compact, the fruit crooknecked and smooth. In 

 the cushaw the fruit may be yellow, white, or striped. In the 



