January i, 1892.] 
TMF TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
493 
plants producinf; the best table varieties, some of 
which are much more Hko Cantaloupe-vines than 
Cucumbers, as we know thorn. 
My first trial in growing Luifa-seeds was a failure, 
because I made the attempt with a variety that 
required bo long a season in which to perfect its 
net-work, that frost came, even before it nod 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. maci'nc.arpa 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. 
macrocarpa boars 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. Tn very 
dry weather there will be a scarcity of pistillate 
flowers until after a supply of rain, when tney will 
appear in almost every joint. The cucumbers 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 he 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. My best success came from planting 
against a trellis on the south side of a wooden 
omlding, with an all-day excoaure to the sun. 
Next to L. wacrocatpa, the wild Cuban does the 
best in Philadelphia, as it comes to maturity early, 
and grows much larger than in its native island. The 
variety 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 sbortor-soason than 
the Egyptian. Flybridization should ho 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 
m its final results. 
The first Luffa sponges sold in this city were 
^own from Cuban seed ; the second came from 
Japan, and the third from Cairo, in Egypt. Japanese 
seed were grown in Louisiana before there were 
any sponges of J,, macwcaroa for sale here, and 
my first stock camo from tnat state. Under the 
name of the Bonnet Gourd and Dishcloth Gourd, 
this and the Cuban riuffa are now well known in 
several of the southern states, although, as 1 liave 
stated, the name of Gourd is a misnomer. Bonnets 
made from the opened sponges, 
shaped out with some woven fabric, but the entire 
head-covering was not produced of the net-work 
until the large white of Egypt furnished the 
material for cutting^ and fitting. 
The (^'ucumis retii-ulafus of Egypt is grown in 
large quantities, and has become quito an article of 
commerce, being exported mainly to England and 
Germany, the pa(;kages containing 1.000 to l,r»00 
each; but a small proportion of these are sponges 
of the whiteness and (niality that indicate a proper 
care in preparation. ^ When a sponge cucumber is 
dried whole the netting is easily separated ; but ita 
fibre will have a brownish color and will liave lost 
much of its tensile strength. Naturally, tlie reti- 
culation is of silvery whiteness, and this can only 
be preserved by a proper method of cleaning it 
from rind, seeds and pulp when tlic cucumber is 
matured, but still green; and the whole must be 
done at one operation or the sjionge will change in 
color. When a Jjuffa has reached its maturity of 
growth it will be known by its peen rind lighten- 
ing in color and becoming more arv ; it should then 
bo cut off and hung up in the bouse for a week 
or more until the juice in large measure dries out 
of the rind. The encumber should then be pared 
and the cap at the lower end removed, which will 
open the seed channels ; it should tlien 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 fiOD in very large fruits. When the reticu- 
lated skeleton has been well cleaned, hang it np 
on a pin-hook and string to dry in-doors, when H 
should become of silvery whiteness and weigh 
three-quarters of an ounce to an ounce. 
By exposure, to the air, oven 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, particnmrly 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 
akin, and care must be taken that it does not take 
too deep a hold whore the surface is young and 
toiidor. For delicate skins and children the im- 
mature skeletons should be selected, or the small 
end of the mature ones, whicli is much finer in 
fibre than the base. 
My record of varieties in the Cucumts reticulatm 
amounts to twenyr, and those 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 nnder glass, the Egyp- 
tian may likewise ; the Petola ana Mcxicana are 
yet to be tested in a favorable season. Some others 
have grown well, but tho character of the cu- 
cumbers docs not make their propagation desirable. 
The plants designated are quite ornamental and 
interesting, with their beautiful leaves, large 
staminate flowers and hanging fruits, bomo 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 starainate-buds grow in 
bnnehes 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, tho sepals of the blossom long remain- 
ing attached.— />/•. IL /*. [farm before the Pemt- 
Hijrama UortievUnral Socirfy.—Oarden au<} Foir.'^f. 
Wiiv no We Stiii tuk Soil? — If compacting tho 
soil make it retain moisture, why do wc advise fre- 
quent stirring of the soil in times of drought? The 
question is a legitimate one, and we will answer. 
I® necessary to plant seed near the surface, es- 
pecially in the spring, for tho soil is warmer there 
and the conditions of germination more readily sup- 
plied. But after the seeds liave gerniinatea, the 
roots strike downward and the moisture is supplied 
largely by the soil water rising from hclow by capll- 
lary attraction. If the surface is left harn, then 
the water will ascend to the surface and be rapidly 
ovanoratod. But if a steel nike or hoe is frequently 
used to stir an inch or two of the surface, it breaks 
the capillary tubes and the moisture ascends to the 
roots of the plants and there stops until absorbed 
by tho roots and reaches the air by passing through 
the cells of the roots and plants and leaves, deposit 
ing the dissolved plant food by tlie way.— 
1‘liwter, 
