THE ECONOMIC PLANTS OF JAPAN*— XV. 



CUCURBITS AND LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 



|HE cucurbits are largely cultivated 

 in Japan. One or another of the 

 many kinds can be seen on every 

 little farm, and in their season on 

 t h e stands of vegetable-dealers 

 everywhere. No member of the 

 family is so generally grovi'n as the 

 common cucumber, Cucurnis salivus, L., Jap., Kiuri. 

 Cucumbers are cultivated throughout the country, and 

 seem to be appreciated by everybody. Not only are they 

 grown for home use, but near the cities one may often 

 see considerable areas in this crop for market, and cart- 

 loads and basket-loads find their way to the town over 

 every road. They are for the most part gathered when 

 about fully grown, but before they ripen. 



The uses of cucumbers may be placed under three gen- 

 eral heads, according to the mode of preparation, viz., 

 fresh, pickled and dried. In the fresh state they are 

 often used as a salad, much as with us, or they are 

 sliced and boiled as an ingredient of some dish. That 

 this vegetable is much appreciated may be inferred 

 from the fact that it is no uncommon sight to see 

 people, both old and young, pick cucumbers 

 from the vines and eat them out of hand, as 

 we would eat bananas, with as much appar- 

 ent relish. As a pickle they are preserved 

 in salt, packed in tubs, and used as occasion 

 demands through the year. They are not 

 pickled in vinegar as with us, nor do the 

 Japanese select the small ones for this pur- 

 pose, as we do. When preserved in the dr) 

 state they are first pared into long ribbons 

 which are dried in the sun on long bamboo 

 sticks, and when thoroughly dry can be 

 kept for a long time. These dried ribbons 

 of cucumbers (and also of melons) are caller 

 kampiyo, and are used in soups and as an 

 ingredient of many other dishes. 



The Japanese method of cultivat- 

 ing the cucumber is quite unique. As 

 everyone knows, the cucumber-vine 

 is provided with tendrils, and nature 

 evidently intended that it should 

 climb. The Japanese act upon this 

 suggestion in their culture. They 

 drop the seed in double rows on a 

 bed, and when the plants begin to 

 form vines they are brushed as we 

 brush peas, with the brush of two adjoining rows leaning 

 against each other. This method is invariable among 

 the farmers, and the vines take kindly to it. The moist 

 climate prevents them from drying out and burning up 



as they probably would do in some places in this country 

 under similar treatment : nor do the vines blow down or 

 suffer from the weight of their fruit. To a foreigner it 

 is a novel sight to see rows of tall brush covered with 

 cucumber-vines, and these laden with heavy fruit, some 

 eight or nine inches in length. The cucumbers are of 

 good quality, but most of them are rather late in fruiting. 



CucuMis coNOMON, Thunb. ; ]sL-p.,Sktro-!iri,Maki(ica- 

 uri (Japan Muskmelon). This is probably only a well- 

 marked form of the common melon, C. mclo. All the 

 native varieties which have come under my observation 

 have had rather small fruit of oblong shape with smooth 

 or but slightly netted rind, feeble aroma and indifferent 

 quality. None of them can compare in flavor and sweet- 

 ness with the best American varieties. The most common 

 sort is called Shiro-uri (white melon), a name which is 

 also used in the generic sense for the entire class. These 

 melons are small, oblong and nearly white when per- 



fectly ripe. They are much relished by the Japanese. 



American varieties have been introduced, but these are 

 as yet confined to the environments of open parts of the 

 country, and have apparently not gained a strong footholc' 



*Copyriglit by the author. 



