152 NOTES ON THE AGRICULTURE, 



(See PI. I, Fig. 1) with a hard green-gray skin with white 

 lines; a line variety (See PI. I, Fig. 5) also with a green-grey 

 skin with white lines and reddish -yellow flesh : also an oblong 

 kind (See PI. I, Fig. 3) reddish-green in colour. None of 

 these gourds are ever planted in large fields, but they are 

 usually seen in rows along the boundaries of maize fields, 

 near hedges or along maize and bean plantations. 



A most interesting method of cultivation of the large 

 gourd was seen in one Chinese garden, where the gourds were 

 planted about 3-4 feet apart, as seen in PI. VI, Figs. 1 and 2. 

 All the lateral stoles of the gourd were cut during the growth 

 and the principal stole growing straight was pulled up about 

 every 2-2.5 feet and reset. As a result the principal stole 

 of the gourd was thickly covered with fruits of different sizes ; 

 one plant could thus give 10-15 gourds. 



The large gourds are eaten by the Chinese partly in the 

 summer, but mostly in winter. They are cooked and roasted, 

 and sometimes they are cut into thin pieces, dried in the sun 

 or on the stove, and preserved for winter. 



The vegetable marrow (Cucurbita Pepo L.), called locally 

 "the western bottle-shaped gourd" (2S H M) is cultivated in 

 villages near every house and especially near towns. 



Three varieties of this gourd are seen in North Manchuria. 

 The first is "the long white Bush" or "the vegetable Marrow" 

 which was introduced into Manchuria by Eussians from 

 Europe. The other two are the native vegetable marrows. 

 This also is of foreign extraction, being introduced to China 

 from America many years ago. One local kind was dark 

 streak (See PI. II, Fig. 1), another (See PL II, Fig. 2) 

 was of a light -yellow colour. Both plants have long stems 

 and short thick fruits. 



Near towns, vegetable marrows are planted in narrow 

 rows about 2 feet wide; the plants about 3-3.5 feet apart 

 (See PI. V, Figs. 1 and 2). Very often they are planted 

 in rows among the maize as is seen on PI. V, Figs. 3 and 4. 

 Seeds are put directly into the ground in the beginning of 

 May. The first young fruits are gathered about the 20th of 

 June, after that the fruits are collected during the summer 

 up to the end of September. In the end of September the 

 Chinese collect the ripe fruits which are used for seeds. 

 In October all the dry stems are gathered and used as fuel 

 in winter. 



The vegetable marrow is eaten by the Chinese in summer 

 as well as in winter cooked and roasted. The seeds are much 

 valued by the Chinese and eaten roasted and salted. From 

 the ripened fruits, boiled in water, vessels are made and used 

 for preserving garden seeds. 



