336 



There are many good varieties under cultivation. Vilmorin- 

 Andrieux (seq.) describes 50 kinds, and Tracy (U.S. Dept. Agric. 

 Bureau PL Ind. Bull. No. 21, 1903. pp. 167-182) enumerates no less 

 than 339 varieties — though many of these are synonymous — catalogued 

 by seedsmen in the United States and Canada. 



Ref, — " Cucumis sativus" in Field & Garden Crops, N.W. Prov. & 



Oudh, Duthie & Fuller, ii. pp. 53-54. "Cucumis sativus," in 



Diet. Econ. Prod. India, Watt, ii. 1#89, pp. 632-635. -" Cucumber 



Growing and Pickle Making," in Queensland Agric. Journ. vii. 1900, 



pp. 294-295. " Cucumber," in Vegetables & Flowers, Trop. Semi- 



Trop. & Temp. Climates, Sutton & Sons. pp. 52-56. — ~" Concombre, 

 Cucumis sativus" in Les. PL Pota^eres, Vilmorin-Andrieux, pp. 

 181-198 (Paris, 1904) ; English Translation, Robinson, pp. 264-284 

 (John Murray, London, 1905). — — " Cucumbers," Harris, in Bull. 



Dept. Agric. Jamaica, iv. 1906, pp. 219-220. Cucumbers, Corbett, 



U.S. Dept. Agric. Farmers' Bull. No. 254, 1906, pp. 1-30. 



CiTRULLUS, Schrad. 



Citrullus vulgaris, Schrad. ; Fl. Trop. Afr. II. p. 549. 



Vernac. names. — Goonah (Katagum, Dalziel) ; Kankana (Hausa 

 Parsous) ; Egusu (Nupe, Barter) ; Egusi Bara (Oloke-Meji, Lagos 

 Johnson, Dawodu) ; Ikpan (Lagos, Bull. Imp. Inst. 1907, p. 356) 

 Beraf (Senegal, Moloney) ; Voaketsihetsy (Madagascar, Parker) 

 Tendsee (Saharunpur, Duthie) ; Tarbooj (Ahmedabad, Mus. Kew) ; 

 Laikee or Argosee? (Sierra Leone, Oldfield) — The Water Melon, 

 Canadian Citron, Citron Water Melon, Tsama Water Melon. 



Katagum ; Nupe. Common in the Kalahari region, and widely 

 distributed in warm countries. Said to be indigenous in equatorial 

 Africa. 



The fruit is well known for its watery refreshing pulp when ripe, 

 and. as a vegetable when green. The Citron Water Melon is usually 

 made into a preserve or sweetmeat called " Citron." In Ngamiland 

 it is eaten by bushmen, often their sole supply of water, and it is also 

 of equal value to the antelopes (Lugard, Herb. Kew). According to 

 Mac Owan, the waterless regions of the Kalahari would be impassable 

 but for the perfectly tasteless watery contents of the " Tsama water 

 melon." This variety is also readily eaten by cows and horses 

 (Kennedy, U.S. Dept. Agric. Div. Agrost. Bull. No. 22, 1900, p. 85). 



Large supplies of water melons come into the markets of this 

 country from Spain and Portugal. 



The seeds are eaten as food in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria, 

 being commonly sold in the native markets; used for making a kind 

 of sauce in Sierra Leone (Scott Elliot, Mus. Kew) ; ground and 

 made into soup, sometimes into cakes, Lagos (Gurney, Mus. Kew); 

 used as food and an oil called " Ecose " prepared from them in 

 Lagos (Venn, Mus. Kew); parched for eating, Kiukiang (Bullock, 

 Mus. Kew). They have been found by Lidoff (seeds grown in 

 S. Russia) to contain from 24 to 25 per cent, of oil suitable for 

 lubricating purposes (Journ. Soc. Arts, xxxii. 1884, p. 1076), and 

 soap-making, valued (1908, seeds grown in S. Nigeria) at £21 10s. to 

 £23 10s per ton (Col. Rep. Ann. No. 630, 1909, p. 39). 



Power and Salway (seeds from the United States) have found the 

 whole seed, when ground and extracted with light petroleum to 

 yield 19 per cent of fatty oil, and the kernels, obtained by expression, 

 7*4 per cent of oil (No. 105, seq. p. 3731 



