19G the amateur’s kitchen garden. 
here it may be proper to remark that the sorts usually grown 
for ornament are not edible, although a certain number of 
those that are most useful in the kitchen are magnificent 
tilings, considered from an artistic point of view. This is par- 
ticularly the case with the squashes, of which there is a great 
variety of attractive forms. The mixing of edible and in- 
edible, or as they usually called “ poisonous” sorts together in 
a plantation is not advised, but it can scarcely be said to be 
fraught with danger, because the nauseous bitter flavour of 
the objectionable kinds will effectually prevent any one eating 
them, and as a matter of fact, we cannot find a record of a 
single case of poisoning through the eating of unwholesome 
gourds. As summer vegetables the marrows are invaluable. 
All the kinds may be used when ripe in the place of carrots 
and turnips, in soups and stews, and those with deep yellow 
high flavoured flesh, make excellent custards, being first 
slightly cooked, and then laid in slices with whipped eggs, 
milk, and the flavourings proper to custards. Not the least 
important of their uses is in the preparation of preserves and 
marmalade, the ripe flesh forming the basis of the conserve. 
The fame of pumpkin pie needs only to be mentioned to 
suggest a purpose to which the larger kinds are very commonly 
devoted in the country. Finally, where there happens to be 
a glut of fruit — as may happen when a collection has been 
grown for some special purpose — pigs and poultry will eat the 
flesh with eagerness, and thus the pumpkins for which there 
is no direct use will in time come to the kitchen in the shape 
of pork, chicken, eggs, and so forth. 
Selection of Gourds. — The best for marmalade is the 
Sicilian or Citron Gourd ; the best, perhaps, for custards, are 
the, Bordeaux Melon and The Turban ; the best for use as a 
winter vegetable is the Bound Warted Squash, but all the 
squashes are available for the same purpose ; and the best for 
summer use, are Moore's Vegetable Cream, and Hibberd's 
Prolific Marrow. 
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