Cucurhitous Plants 



281 



Lagenaria, Linn.), are grown mostly as arbor covers^ and 

 for the great hard-shelled fruits from which dippers and 

 other utensils are fashioned; the young fruits are some- 

 times eaten in other countries, but probably not here. 



The dish-cloth gourds or vegetable sponges, two spe- 

 cies of Luffa, are in cultivation as curiosities and for the 

 fibrous interior, which is used, when dried and macerated, 

 as a sponge. The young fruit may be eaten when cooked 

 or dried, but it is scarcely known as a kitchen-garden 

 product in this country. Lufa acutangula, with ridged 

 fruits, is apparently more commonly cultivated in this 

 country than L. cijlindrica. 



Of late years, Benincasa liispida, the wax gourd of the 

 Orient, has been introduced as the Chinese preserving 

 melon. It is used for the making of preserves and sweet 

 pickles. The fruit is the size of a watermelon, hairy, and 

 usually has a waxy covering. Cultivation is as for musk- 

 melon. 



The balsam apple {Momordica Balsamina) and balsam 

 pear (M. Charantia) are very ornamental climbers with 

 divided leaves and warty small fruits that split open and 

 curl when ripe ; they are common on porches and arbors 

 far South, and the young fruits are edible. Their use in 

 this country, except among the Chinese, seems to be for 

 ornament only. 



The chayote or christophine (SecMum edule) is grown 

 in Florida and the tropics for its cucumber-flavored fruit. 

 It is an odd plant, the fruit bearing only one seed, which 

 is very large. 



There are no fundamental differences in the cultivation 

 of the various cucurbitous crops. They are all very ten- 



