SQUASHES AND PUMPKINS 



33 



from the apex three-quarters length of fruit, and small irregular 

 blotches of the same color; during storage the stripes and blotches 

 change to pale pink (light congo pink ) and the green to bronze 

 gray flight drab). Fruit stalk moderately short, 2'j-3 inches, 

 moderately straight, rough and corky. Shell moderately hard, thick, 

 '|- :1 S inch. Flesh moderately thin at the apex and medial, :1 i~l 

 inch: base moderately thick, 1>.| inches; texture very fine, tender, 

 moderately dry; fair flavor, slightly sweet; quality fair to moderately 

 good; color pale orange (orange buff to apricot yellow'. Seed 

 cavity large, conforms to shape of fruit; placental tissue medium 

 amount, moist, tender, rather difficult to remove. 



Seed large; long, narrow and plump, 2.3 x 1.2 x .55 cm. (72 per 

 oz.1; face cracked and pitted, brown i snuff brown); margin ridged, 

 slightly corky, between ridges smooth, pale buff (cartridge buff). 



CUCURBITA PEPO 



Varieties of this species were in common use among 

 the Indians at the time of our early colonization. At 

 that time the prototypes of our present day varieties, 

 Bush Scallop, Perfect Gem and Connecticut Field, were 

 known and recorded by early writers. In 1806 McMahon 

 recorded the existence of many sorts, but mentioned no 

 variety names, although his warted squash, listed as 

 Cucurbita verrucosa, may have been a summer crook- 

 neck. The vegetable marrow first appeared in catalogs 

 in 1824 when Thorburn listed it. In 1847 Apple was 

 introduced by Hovey, and Patagonian by Thorburn, 

 while Para and Custard did not appear in catalog lists 

 until about 10 years later. Records during the period 

 1825 to 1860 are rather incomplete, consequently it 

 is not known just when such varieties as Nantucket, 

 Small Sugar, Bergen and Variegated Bush Scallop 

 appeared. Since Burr, in 1863, included these in his 

 " Field and Garden Vegetables of America " they were, 

 obviously, accepted as distinct sorts at or before this 

 time. 



As in the case of varietal development of the maxi- 

 mas, the greatest activity in pepo introductions was 

 shown from 1880 to 1900. During this period Fordhook, 

 Perfect Gem, Pineapple and Delicata were among the 

 small fall squashes introduced. The large-fruited winter 

 pumpkins such as Winter Luxury, Golden Oblong, 

 Gibson and Dunkard were all listed for the first time 

 between 1890 and 1900. At the same time a con- 

 siderable advance in the development and introduction 

 of summer squash was made, as evidenced by the fact 

 that Earliest Prolific, Mammoth White Bush Scallop, 

 Long Island White Bush Scallop and Giant Summer 

 Straightneck were first introduced. The past 30 years 

 have seen the introduction of Table Queen in 1913 

 Boston Greek in 1918, and Zucchini in 1921. During 

 this period three Indian varieties from the northern 

 plains region were named and introduced as Mandan, 

 Fort Berthold and Omaha, thereby emphasizing the 

 fact that the species had long been known by the early 

 Americans. 



The greatest diversity in fruit and plants of the 

 three species discussed in this chapter occurs within the 

 pepos. In size they range from the apple-like Perfect 

 Gem to the mammoth Tours and Sandwich Island, while 

 fully as great a divergence exists in plants, as shown by 

 the bush-like habit of the scallops and the exceedingly 



coarse, vigorous growth of the aforementioned mammoth 

 varieties. The great variety of colors and color patterns 

 have also contributed to the interest of the group. 



The utility of the pepos has been and still is rather 

 varied. Early records do not make a very clear dis- 

 tinction between some of these and the gourds, but the 

 Indians are said to have used the dried shell of the warted 

 summer crookneck as a rattle during their ceremonial 

 dances; and certain varieties such as Cocoanut and 

 Illinois Beauty, in addition to their usefulness as food, 

 often served as colorful ornaments during the latter part 

 of the nineteenth century much as the ornamental gourds 

 are used today. From the standpoint of food use, all 

 varieties can be listed in one of four groups: First, the 

 so-called summer squashes (including the various 

 scalloped sorts, the vegetable marrows and the warted 

 crooknecks), which are used in the immature stages; 

 second, the fall squash or individual group (includ- 

 ing Black Michigan, Delicata and Table Queen), which 

 produce firmer flesh than the preceding group and are 

 much esteemed for baking in the half-shell; third, the 

 winter pumpkins which are grown for storage and 

 largely used for pies (including Winter Luxury, Small 

 Sugar, Golden Oblong and Connecticut Field, the latter 

 two often used in blending with the stiffer squash varie- 

 ties in the manufacture of pie stock); and last, and least 

 desirable, those varieties sometimes grown for stock food, 

 among which are Sandwich Isle and Tours. 



Sixty varieties are treated in more or less detail in 

 this analysis. No attempt has been made to include the 

 many English types of vegetable marrows, nor has it 

 been possible to consider other foreign types unless they 

 were introduced into the trade channels of our seed 

 industry. 



Alexandria. Ref. 130. 



This variety originated sometime prior to 1902 with 

 F. B. Van Ornam who was supposed to have secured the 

 seed from Alexandria, Egypt. The fruits were shaped 

 similar to those of Fordhook without the ridges and fur- 

 rows. It was about the same size, very smooth and hard 

 shelled. It was dropped from trade lists 4 or 5 years later. 



Apple. Ref. 24. Syn. Early Apple. 



Hovey & Co. of Boston, Massachusetts, listed this 

 unusual squash variety from 1847 to 1857. Burr in 

 1863 describes the fruit as obtusely conical, three inches 

 broad at the stem and two and a half in depth. The 

 skin yellowish white, tender while the fruit is young, 

 but shell-like when ripe. This, the smallest fruited 

 squash recorded in early lists, may have been the pre- 

 cursor of Perfect Gem, a popular sort forty to fifty 

 years later. 



Black Michigan. Refs. 11, 30, 59, 69, 97, 130. Syns. 

 Iron Clad, Para, Polk. 

 The Vaughan Seed Store, Chicago, Illinois, listed 

 and illustrated in their catalog of 1905 this distinct 

 fall and winter variety. According to the information 

 describing the new novelty, seed had been procured 

 from a gardener in New Haven, Connecticut, who had 



