493 
plants producing the best table varieties, some of 
which are much more like Cantaloupe-vines than 
Cucumbers, as we know them. 
My first trial in growing Luffa-seeds was a failure, 
because I made the attempt with a variety that 
required so long a season in which to perfect its 
net-work, that frost came, even before it had begun 
to form. The fruits grew half a yard in length, and 
the vine was vigorous, but the season required was 
too long for this latitude. My second venture was 
with the L. mac.rocarpa of Japan, which produced 
fully matured fruits in five months from the day of 
planting. This is the best sort to grow in a temperate 
climate, and bears the most symmetrical of all the 
sponge cucumbers; the fibre of the netting is coarser 
than that found in the Egyptian variety, and not 
80 well adapted for use as a scrubber in bathing. L. 
macrocavpa bears cucumbers from thirteen to fifteen 
inches long, and some of them are very nearly 
straight. The vine is a vigorous grower, and, in 
favourable seasons, a fair crop of cucumbers. In very 
dry weather there will be a scarcity of pistillate 
flowers until after a supply of rain, when they will 
appear in almost every joint. The cucmnbers develop 
rapidly, and, but for the slow growth of the vine in 
the early season, would come to maturity in large 
proportion; as it is, however, there will be many fruits 
that will only be partly grown when frost arrests their 
development. Much time may be saved by having 
the plants grown a yard or two in height in a green- 
house, and then setting them out on the 10th of June; 
as the plant is tropical, it will stand the full heat of 
the sun all day without drooping, and grow all the 
better for it. Bly best success came from planting 
against a trellis on the south side of a wooden 
building, with an all-day exnosure to the sun. 
Next to L. macrocarpa, the wild Cuban does the 
best in Philadelphia, as it comes to maturity early, 
and grows much larger than in its native island. The 
Egyptian varie'y grows well and sets many fruits; 
but these are late in maturing, so that as yet I 
have not produced any with black seeds. The Petola 
I have not tested yet ; it looks promising in its 
picture, and is one of the few that produce a good 
reticulation. A hybrid between the Japanese and 
Egyptian varieties might readily be produced with 
a brush, and, theoretically, should be finer than 
the Japanese in its netting, and shorter-season than 
the Egyptian. Hybridization shoiild be produced 
each way between the two parents, and plantings 
tested with seeds from several experiments, as this 
way of producing new varieties has much uncertainty 
in its final results. 
The first Luffa sponges sold in this city were 
grown from Cuban seed ; the second came from 
Japan, and the third from Cairo, inBgypt. Japanese 
seed were grown in Louisiana before there were 
any sponges of L. macrocarpa for sale here, and 
my first stock came from that state. Under the 
name of the Boirnet Gourd and Dishcloth Gourd, 
tliis and the Cuban Luffa are now well known in 
several of the southern states, although, as I have 
stated, the name of Gourd is a misnomer. Bonnets 
arc sometimes made from the opened sponges, 
shaped out witli some woven fabric, but the entire 
head-covering was not produced of the net-work 
until the largo white Luffas of Egypt fiu'nished the 
material for cutting and fitting. 
Tlie Cuciiiiiis retivnlatHS of Egypt is grown in 
hirgo quantities, and has become quite an article of 
counnorco, being exported mainly to England and 
Germany, the packages containing 1,000 to 1,500 
each ; but a small proportion ot these are sponges 
of the whiteness and quality that indicate a proper 
care in preparation. When a sponge cucumber is 
dried whole the netting is easily separated ; but its 
fibre will have a brownish color and will have, lost 
nuich of its tensile strength. Naturally, the "reti- 
culation is of silvery whiteness, and tliis can only 
be ■ preserved by a )iioper method of cleaning it 
from rind, seeds and pulp when the cucumber is 
matured, but still green ; and the whole must be 
done !it one operation or the sponge will change in 
color. When a l.ulTa has reached its maturitv of 
growth it will be known by its green rind lighten- 
ing in color and becoming more dry; it should then 
be cut off and hung up in the house for a week 
or more until the juice in large measure dries out 
of the rind. The cucumber should then be pared 
and the cap at the lower end removed, which will 
open the seed channels ; it should then be kneaded 
and squeezed under a large pan of hot water until 
the seeds and pulp are washed out. When fully 
ripe the seeds are jet black, and will number from 
400 to 600 in very large fruits. When the reticu- 
lated skeleton has been well cleaned, hang it up 
on a pin-hook and string to dry in-doors, when it 
should become of silvery whiteness and weigh 
three-quarters of an ounce to an ounce. 
By exposure, to the air, even when kept in darkness, 
the whitest luffa-sponges gradually change to a light 
orange-yellow. This color is largely soluble in hot 
water with soap, and much of it may be washed out, 
leaving the fluid of a decidedly yellow tint and the 
sponge much lighter in color. Sponges in frequent 
use become of a light grayish white tint and slowly 
weaken in fibre, particularly in the outer or circular 
layer, which is not so tough as the internal long- 
itudinal one. The sponges are quite durable when 
compared with those obtained from the sea. and are 
odorless when well washed; no fabric when wet 
has as decided an effect as a rubefacient upon the 
skin, and care nmst be taken that it does not take 
too deep a hold where the surface is young and 
tender. For delicate skins and children the im- 
mature skeletons should be selected, or the small 
end of the mature ones, which is much finer in 
fibre than the base. 
My record of varieties in the Ciicumis reticulatus 
amounts to twenty, and these belong to Japan, 
Moluccas, China, India, Africa. Spain, Cuba, Brazil 
and Mexico. The tests thus far made go to show 
that but very few of the varieties will perfect fruit 
in this latitude, and that it is useless to grow the 
others, expect for ornament or curiosity. The 
Macrocarpa stands at the head of the list, as it has 
been repeatedly grown; the Acutangula, as a 
curiosity, grown equally well; the Cuban comes 
to perfection ; and by starting under glass, the Egyp- 
tian may likewise; the Petola and Mexicana are 
yet to be tested in a favorable season. Some others 
have gi-own well, but the character of the cu- 
cumbers does not make their propagation desirable. 
The plants designated are quite ornamental and 
interesting, with their beautiful leaves, large 
staminate flowers and hanging fruits, borne some- 
times as high as a second-story veranda. The Egyptian 
flower is about four inches in diameter, and others 
are nearly as large. The staminate-buds grow in 
bunches and bloom singly, so that the vines are con- 
stantly in flower ; all of the blossoms are a bright 
yellow. The pistil of the productive flower develops 
into the point of the cucumber, and the long ovary 
into the fruit, the sepals of the blossom long remain- 
ing attached.— 2)r. E. P. Hariis before the Penn- 
aylrania Horticultural Society. — Garden and Forest. 
^ _ 
Why do We Stir the Soll ?— If compacting the 
soil make it retain moisture, why do we advise fre- 
quent stirring of the soil in times of drought ? The 
question is a legitimate one, and we will answer. 
It is necessary to plant seed near the surface, es- 
pecially in the spring, for the soil is warmer there 
and the conditions of germination more readily sup- 
plied. But after the seeds have germinated, the 
roots strike downward and the moisture is supplied 
largely by the soil water rising from below by capil- 
lary attraction. If the surface is left hard, then 
the water will ascend to the surface and be rapidlv 
evaporated. But if a steel rake or hoe is frequently 
used to stir an inch or two of the sm-face, it break's 
the capillary tubes and the moisture ascends to the 
roots of the plants and there stops until absorbed 
by the roots and reaches tlie air by passing through 
the cells of the roots and plants anct leave's, deposit- 
ing the dissohod plant food by tlie \\&\ .—Qitecnshtud 
I'laiiler. 
