214 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



The Turban, sometimes called also the Acorn 

 squash, because when the fruit is small it resem- 

 bles somewhat an acorn in its cup, seems to be 

 the Cucurbit 'a piliforrais of Duchesne. The middle 

 lower figure of the group on page 283 of the vol- 

 ume on "Timber Trees and Fruits," in the "Libra- 

 ry of Entertaining Knowledge," seems intended 

 for the Turban squash. It sometimes grows to a 

 large size, measuring 14 or 15 inches, in transverse 

 diameter, and looks like an immense Turkish tur- 

 ban in shape. Specimens raised in my garden in 

 1851 were little more than ten inches in diameter, 

 and weighed ten pounds or more, having very 

 thick and firm flesh, and but a small cavity within. 

 They proved excellent for table use, equal in 

 quality to the best Autumnal Marrows. They 

 keep quite as well as the latter. 

 y The earliest account of the Cashew pumpkin 

 that has fallen under our notice is contained in the 

 English translation of Du Pratz's History of Lou- 

 isiana, (vol. II, p. 8,) where.it is called Cushaw. 

 In the original French work, the name given to it 

 Is Git -onion. Du Pratz described two varieties; 

 one round, and the other curved, or of the shape 

 of a hunter's horn. The latter was considered the 

 best The Cushaw or Cashew pumpkin is not 

 cultivated or much known in New England. I 

 raised some specimens of the crook-necked variety, 

 (which has only three double rows of seeds), a few 

 years ago, from seeds received from New Jersey. 

 They did not ripen well, and many of them rotted 

 before half ripe. They are evidently too tender 

 for a New England climate. From the account 

 given of them by Du Pratz, they seem well suited 

 to Louisiana, where the are much esteemed. See 

 his work. 



The genuine Mammoth pumpkin, or true Potiron 

 {Cucurbita maxima,) may be considered as the 

 typical species of this group, having rather soft, 

 roundish heart-shaped, and entire leaves, a short 

 cylindrical fruit stem, a permanent fleshy stile, 

 and five carpels or double row of seeds. The form 

 of the fruit is an oblate spheroid, depressed at the 

 blossom and stem ends, and marked with ten or 

 more wide meridianal furrows. It sometimes 

 grows to an immense size, two feet or more in di- 

 ameter, and sixty pounds or more in weight, being 

 light in proportion to its size, on account of the 

 large hollow within. It is known to vary much in 

 color and size, and somewhat in form. In some 

 of its variations, it may have lost its original char- 

 acteristic form, so far as to be no longer recognized. 

 If this be true, Cole's Connecticut pie squash, the 

 round Valparaiso squashes, and several others, 

 may be merely varieties of the Mammoth pumpkin. 

 To some of the varieties of this fruit the name 

 Giromon or Giromont, otherwise written Giraumon 

 and Giraumont signifying a rolling mountain, 

 seems originally to have been applied, in allusion 

 to the form and size. French writers subsequent- 

 ly transferred this name to certain varieties of the 

 Cucurbita pepo. 



The plants of the foregoing Valparaiso, or Potiron 

 group, are more tender and less hardy than those 

 of the common pumpkin or Pepo group; they are 

 also much more subject to the attacks of worms or 

 borers (JEgeria cucurbita) at the roots. Their 

 fruits, compared with common pumpkins and winter 

 squashes, have a thinner and more tender rind, and 

 finer grained, sweeter, and less strongly flavored 

 flesh, on which accounts they are preferred by most 

 persons for table use. 



The second group contains the common New 

 England field pumpkin, Bell-shaped and Crook- 

 necked Winter squashes, the Early Canada Winter 

 squash, the Custard squash, and various others, all 

 of which (whether rightly or 'not cannot now be 

 determined,) have been generally referred by bo- 

 tanists to the Cucurbita pepo of Linnaeus. This 

 group is readily to be distinguished from the first 

 one by the following characters. The leaves are 

 rough, and more or less deeply and acutely five- 

 lobed. The fruit has only three carples or double 

 row of seeds, and the stile drops off with the blossom. 

 The fruit stem is long, and clavated or .enlarged 

 next the fruit, where it spreads out into five claw- 

 like projections ; and is five-angled and deeply five- 

 furrowed. The fruit is eaten only when fully ripe, 

 and may be kept with care throughout the winter. 

 The rind, though sometimes quite hard, never be- 

 comes a woody shell, and the flesh remains juicy 

 and succulent till it rots, never drying up into a 

 spongy or fibrous substance, in which respects 

 these fruits differ from what are. called Summer 

 squashes. The seeds are not so broad, thick or 

 plump, and white as those of the potiron group, 

 but are smaller, thinner, and of a greyish color. 



The common field pumpkin of New England, 

 which formerly was extensively raised for stock, 

 and is still used for the same purpose, and of 

 which our pumpkin pies and pumpkin sauce were 

 made, till the winter crook-neck and autumnal 

 marrow came to be substituted therefor, has a form 

 somewhat resembling that of the mammoth pump- 

 kin, but its longitudinal often exceeds its trans- 

 verse diameter, its color is of a deeper yellow or 

 orange, the furrows on its surface not so deep or 

 broad, and its rind much thicker, and in some va- 

 rieties quite hard. Its flesh is rather coarse, of a 

 deep orange yellow color, and of a peculiar strong 

 odor. Baked pumpkin and milk, pumpkin suace, 

 and dried pumpkin for winter use, have had their 

 day, and gone out of fashion ; and pumpkin pies 

 are now mostly made of the autumnal marrow and 

 crook-necked winter squashes, except by some of 

 the old folks, who still prefer the pumpkins, baked 

 in a milk-pan, and without any pastry. 



The New England " crook-neck squash," as it js 

 commonly but incorrectly called, is a kind of 

 pumpkin, perhaps a genuine species, for it has 

 preserved its identity to our certain knowledge ever 

 since the year 1686, when it was described by Ray. 

 It has the form and color of the Cashaw, but is 

 easily distinguished therefrom by the want of a 

 persistent stile, and by its clavated and furrowed 

 fruit stem. Before the introduction of the Autum- 

 nal Marrow, it was raised in large quantities for 

 table use during the winter, in preference to pump- 

 kins, which it almost entirely superseded. Many 

 farmers use it now instead of pumpkins for cattle ; 

 the vine being more productive, and the fruit con- 

 taining much more nutriment in proportion to its 

 size. It varies considerably in form and color. — 

 The best kinds are those which are very much 

 curved, nearly as large at the stem as at the blossom 

 end, and of a rich cream color. Some are green, 

 variegated with cream colored stripes and spots. 

 Some are bell-shaped, or with a very short and 

 straight neck, and are less esteemed than the 

 others ; for the neck being solid and of fine texture, 

 is the best part of the fruit. These crook-necks 

 can be kept all winter, if not exposed to frost, and 

 I have eaten of them when a year old. On account 

 of its hardiness, its fruitfulness, and its keeping 



