64 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[February, 
the underside of the fronds, or what are popu- 
larly called the leaves. Some fronds will be 
found to be entirely barren, while others will 
have fruit-dots upon their upper portions, and 
it often happens that these fronds or divisions 
of fronds are of shape different from those 
which got its name from the fact that the fruit- 
dots are placed in such a manner as to resemble 
lines in poetry ; so we think this might as well 
be called the Acrostic Shield-fern by those who 
do not care to remember the botanical name 
given above. This fern has very strong and 
1.— POLTPODT. 
■which are sterile and bear no fruit-dots. In the 
common Polypody, the fronds (or leaves) grow 
from six inches to a foot long, and have their 
divisions extending down to the midrib. The 
fruit-dots are roundish, and in two rows, mid- 
way between the midrib of the division and the 
margin. In many ferns the fruit-dots are cov- 
ered, when young at least, by a membrane, but 
MARBLEHEAD SQUASH. 
in the Polypody they are always naked. Like 
many other ferns, the Polypody varies in form, 
and there are in cultivation some half-dozen or 
more named varieties in which the divisions of 
the fronds are variously toothed and subdivided. 
In figure 2 we have one of the Shield-Ferns, 
Aspidium acrostichoides. It is unfortunate that 
this has received no popular name, as it is one 
of the most showy and common of our North- 
ern species. Its specific name, acrostichoides, 
meaus resembling Aorostichium, another fern 
thick fronds, and the rachis, or stem as it would 
be generally called, has brownish scales upon it, 
which are not shown iu the engraving. It 
grows from one to two feet high, the divisions 
have an appendage on the lower side, and the 
upper divisions, when fruit-bearing, are much 
narrower than the lower and sterile ones, 
which have small bristly teeth on the margin. 
The fruit-dots when young 
are covered by a membrane, 
and when old they run to- 
gether so that their shape is lost. 
A variety is found in which the 
divisions of the fronds are more 
or less deeply cut and tooth- 
ed. This fern is very common 
upon wooded hill-sides. Figure 
3 gives one of our most deli- 
cate evergreen ferns, Asplenium 
■ji'it. urn, the Ebony Splcenwort, 
so called because the stem of 
the frond is blackish and shiny, 
like ebony. This is a rather 
common fern in rock}' woods, 
and grows from eight inches 
to a foot or more high, form- 
ing pretty little tufts. The divisions are gene- 
rally lanceolate, but differ considerably in out- 
line. There are several other evergreen ferns, 
but they are generally rarer than the ones we 
have named. We have seen these successfully 
grown in a cool room without the protection of 
the glass of a fernery, but it would be useless to 
attempt their cultivation in the hot and dry at- 
mosphere of an ordinary dwelling room. 
Whether grown in-doors or out, evergreen 
ferns should not be long exposed to full sun. 
The "Marblehead" Squash. 
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Some weeks ago we received from Mr. James 
J. H. Gregory, of Marblehead, Mass., the well- 
known introducer of the Hubbard, specimens 
of a squash which came without name. The 
squash was tried by several, and unanimously 
pronounced to be of the very highest quality. 
We have since received from Mr. Gregory some 
particulars of ils history. He first became ac- 
quainted with this variety many years ago, find- 
ing it growing in the garden of an old sea-cap- 
tain at Marblehead. The old gentleman had 
procured the seeds in some foreign country 
which is not mentioned. Mr. Gregory procured 
seeds from this stock, but when he came to sea 
the resulting crop he found the variety so mixed 
aud crossed by careless culture that he aban- 
doned it. Last year, Mr. G. procured some 
seeds of a Weste; n fanner of a variety that he 
said he had obtained from the sea-board, and 
upon growing them 
they proved to be 
the identical squash 
that had many years 
before been culti- 
vated by the old 
sea-captain. The 
variety, having been 
grown by itself; had 
been kept pure. As 
this squash first 
came to Mr. Gre- 
gory's notice in the 
town in which lie 
resides, he appropri- 
ately calls it the 
"Marblehead." The 
squash, as will be 
seen by the engrav- 
ing, which is from a 
photograph, has the 
same general ap- 
pearance as the 
Hubbard, but it 
does not taper so 
much towards the 
top. The color of 
its shell is a light 
blue, and the shell 
is even harder than 
that of the Hubbard, 
aud the squash is 
heavier in propor- 
tion to its size than 
that variety. The 
flesh , which is rather 
lighter colored than 
that of the Hubbard, 
is remarkably fine- 
grained, and cooks 
smooth, while iu 
sweetness, richness, 
and excellence of flavor we do not recollect to 
have seen its equal. We supposed that the Hub- 
bard was as good as it was possible for a squash 
to be, but it will have to look to ils laurels. There 
is much about the character of the flesh that 
reminds one of the Boston Marrow as it was 
before it became ruined by mixing. The Hub- 
bard is difficult to find pure, as it has been 
crossed with a blue squash, aud sometimes will 
give sports that have a bluish color; these 
should not be confouuded with the Marblehead, 
which Mr. Gregory claims to be the purest of 
any standard variety of squash with which 
he is acquainted, which, considering his long 
experience, is saying a great deal for it. 
■<^*y 
Fig. 3.— EBONY FEBN. 
