June 6th, 1885. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
637 
In conclusion, let me assure “ A. F. L.” that the Latin 
explanation was quite unnecessary.—I?. A. Rolfe. —- 
[With Mr. Kolfe’s amicable reply this correspondence 
must now cease as far as our columns, at all events, 
are concerned. Mr. Bolfe is an assistant botanist in 
the Kew Herbarium, and we are quite satisfied that 
his remarks were in no way prompted by a desire 
either to pick a quarrel or to mislead any one.— Ed.] 
- u__P —. 
Cactaceous Plants : their History and Culture.— 
By Lewis Castle. London: The Journal of 
Horticulture Office, 171, Fleet Street, E.C. 
Under this title a useful little book from the pen of 
Mr. Lewis Castle has recently been published, and 
which we can recommend to all those of our readers 
who cultivate this grotesque and beautiful family as 
both interesting and practical. In the introduction 
the author points out that these plants are amongst 
the most remarkable of vegetable curiosities. He 
remarks :—“ They do not possess beautifully-coloured 
or elegantly-formed foliage to recommend them; on 
the contrary, true leaves are absent from nearly all, 
but in contrast to some of the most gorgeous flowers 
produced by plants, we see unwieldy masses of 
vegetable matter, spherical, cylindrical, or angular, 
armed with stout and formidable spines, and 
resembling what we might almost imagine to be the 
relics of a vegetation belonging to a period long prior 
to the development of the plant-life familiar to us in 
the present age.” 
An interesting chapter on the structure and general 
appearance of the family, with an account of their 
geographical distribution, is followed by a brief 
historical account of their introduction to cultivation. 
Then follows a chapter on General Culture, in which 
temperature, soil, water, and potting are dealt with; 
also Propagation, by cuttings, grafting, or seeds, with 
a few words on hybridization. As to classification, the 
author points out that he follows that of Bentham 
and Hooker’s Genera Plantaruni, as the “ simplest and 
best.” An account of each of the thirteen genera is 
then given, with a list of select species, each with a 
short popular description, and often with additional 
cultural notes in cases where special treatment is 
advantageous. A short account of the Diseases and 
Insects which Affect the Family is also given. Several 
woodcuts are given, and at the end of the work we 
notice a list of figures, or portraits, which will be a 
valuable aid in the identification of species. 
So much for the contents of this little book, which 
is published at the moderate price of one shilling—a 
work which is especially valuable as the only treatise 
in the English language which is wholly devoted to 
this interesting family. 
— a - _p — 
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 
Scottish Horticultural Association. — The 
monthly meeting of this Association was held on 
Tuesday night, at 5, St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh. 
The Vice-President, Mr. E. Lindsay, Curator of the 
Eoyal Botanic Gardens, occupied the chair. Between 
forty and fifty gentlemen were present. A number of 
rare and beautiful flowers and plants were exhibited 
by various members of the Association. A very beauti¬ 
ful show of Pansies from Messrs. Dickson received 
the award of a First-Class Certificate from the Flower 
Committee. A paper was read by Mr. Alexander 
Hutton, F.L.S., Arbroath, on “ The Lily and 
its Allies,” in which the characteristics of the 
botanical order “ Liliacse ” were fully explained. The 
Amaryllis family was afterwards referred to as 
one of the nearest allies. The history, geo¬ 
graphical distribution, and economic uses of many 
of the Lilies were given, special reference being made 
to the floras of Palestine and Japan, which are so 
rich in that family of plants. The part played by 
insects in the fertilization of the Lily family was 
referred to, several curious instances being mentioned, 
among which the Yucca was named as being asso¬ 
ciated with a small moth (Pronuba yuccasella), 
the existence of the one being entirely dependent 
on the other. Concerning the Hyacinth and Tulip, 
reference was made to their commercial importance, 
and to the extensive trade carried on between Holland 
and Great Britain in these bulbs. In connection 
with the Amaryllis group, the history of the American 
Aloe was sketched, and it was pointed out that this 
has no connection with the Aloe of the Cape of Good 
Hope, as the latter belongs to the Lily family, the 
former being an Amaryllid. In dealing with the 
Narcissus, an account of that interesting plant was 
given, dating its history back from the classic days 
of Greece and Eome. The arrangement and nomen¬ 
clature of that popular flower had been much simpli¬ 
fied by Mr. J. G. Baker, F.E.S., of Kew, and also by 
the Daffodil Conference of last year. 
Manchester Botanical and Horticultural 
Society.—The late Whitsun show proved highly suc¬ 
cessful from a financial point of view, and we are in¬ 
formed by Mr. Bruce Findlay that the sum of £700 can 
be reckoned upon as clear gain to the Council. The 
attendance on Whit Monday was very large, only 
second in point of numbers to a Whit Monday four or 
five years ago, and the day was brilliantly fine, and 
thus in marked contrast to the state of the weather in 
London and thereabouts. The attendance at the 
Tulip Show was large, and the sum of over £67 was 
taken at the gates in sixpenny admissions. The day 
was fine, the gardens in admirable condition, and 
there were two bands discoursing sweet music. 
- l - ■—0 - 
HISTORY OF THE GOURDS. 
Of Gourds, as we all know, there" are several 
varieties, some of them beautiful in form and colour, 
others of very large size. Those which are commonly 
cultivated in England for food are the pumpkin 
(Cucurbita Pepo), and the Vegetable Marrow (C. 
Succada). Gourds were well known to the ancients, 
and we find them mentioned in several places in the 
Scriptures. They furnished models, according to the 
marginal reading of Knops (1 Kings, vi. 18), for some 
of the carved work in Cedar in the Temple of Solomon. 
The Greeks appear to have been acquainted with 
several varieties of the Gourd, and they were to be 
seen at Athens with other products of the spring and 
summer, in the cold season of the year : for 
Aristophanes, in his “ Season,” speaking of the 
glories of that luxurious city, says :—- 
There you shall at mid-winter see 
Cucumbers, Gourds, Grapes, and Apples, 
And wreaths of fragrant Violets, 
Covered with dust as if in summer. 
***** 
There you may see fine Pumpkins joined 
To the round Eape and mighty Turnip, 
So that a stranger well may fear 
To name the season of the year. 
Athen^eus, b. 9, 14. 
Diodes states that the best round Gourds are those 
grown near Magnesia, a town of Asia Minor. Euthy- 
demus, the Athenian, in his book on vegetables, states 
that the seeds of the long Gourd were originally 
introduced from India. Pliny, in his Natural 
History, tells us that Gourds resemble the Cucumber 
in their manner of growing, and he classifies them 
into two primary kinds; the first, which, from the 
rapidity of its growth, shoots upwards and creeps 
along the rough surfaces of walls and covers the roofs 
of houses in a very short time, he calls the “ Eoof 
Gourd.” This kind, he says, bears a fruit of con¬ 
siderable weight, 'which is quite immovable by the 
action of the -wind, although the stalks are of a 
remarkable thinness. This plant is considered by 
Fee to be C. longior of Dodonaeus and J. Baubim, the 
long Gourd and other varieties probably of the Calabash 
Gourd—the C. leucantha of Duchesnes. 
The second kind mentioned by Pliny is that which 
creeps Upon the ground, most probably the Pumpkin 
and its varieties. Gourds were held in higher estima¬ 
tion by the Eomans than either Melons or Cucumbers, 
as they were employed for more useful purposes than 
the former fruits. They were considered a light, mild 
wholesome food. The young and tender stalks used 
to be cooked and served up to table as a good dish. 
The fruits of the Eoof Gourds were considered superior 
to those which crept on the ground. In Pliny’s time 
large Gourds were used as jugs and pitchers in the 
baths ; but long before that time he tells us they had 
been employed as casks for keeping wine. Nisander 
tells us that the ancient Greeks used to preserve 
Gourds by the following methodsCutting them 
into moderate-sized pieces and stringing them like 
beads to dry in the air ; then smoking them. When 
wanted for use, each piece was well washed and put 
into the stewpan with various herbs, such as Cabbages, 
Endive, and dried Mushrooms. The Eomans also 
preserved Gourds and Cucumbers, we are told, for 
some months, by putting them into brine. Plir.y 
states that the seeds of the Gourd ought to be steeped 
in water before sowing, and the proper time for that 
operation should be between the vernal equinox and 
summer solstice, about the season of the festival 
celebrating the anniversary of the foundation of Eome 
called Purilia. The Eoman cultivators used to force 
Gourds to grow into various fantastic shapes by 
putting them into moulds when quite young ; thus 
we are told that they were made to resemble a dagon, 
a leg of a man, &c. 
Pliny speaks of wild Cucumbers and Gourds which 
were possessed of certain medicinal properties, and 
gives us a list of eleven remedies for which they were 
applied. The leaves of the Pumpkin steeped in wine 
were considered good for the bites of dogs and insects, 
called Sop by the Greeks, perhaps one of the centipede 
tribe. The seeds were used as a charm to cure the 
ague. According to L’Obel, the Pompion or Pumpkin 
was introduced into this country from the Levant 
in 1370, and till about 1815 this was the principal 
plant of the Gourd kind cultivated in the British 
gardens. Parkinson mentions in his Paradisi (1629), 
that in his time only one kind of Pompion was 
cultivated, but that it would be a waste of time to 
recite all the forms and colours in which Nature 
listeth to show herself in this plant. In using it as 
a culinary vegetable, he tells us that it was customary 
to take out the inner watery substance with the seeds 
and fill up the place with pippins, and, having laid 
on the cover which was cut oil from the top to take 
out the pulp, bake them together ; and the poor of the 
city as well as the country people do eat thereof as 
a dainty dish. Gerard, in his Herbal (1636), says 
there be divers sorts of Gourds—some wild, others 
tame for the garden; some bearing fruit like unto 
a bottle, others longer and bigger at the end, keeping 
no certain form or fashion. He tells us that the juice 
of the Gourd being popped into the ear with oil of 
Eoses is good for the pain thereof, proceeding from 
a hot cause. 
According to Miller, Pompions were the Melons of 
our early horticulturists, which word was corrupted 
into millions, a name by which they are still known 
in some parts of England by the uneducated classes. 
It was usual in Miller’s time, as in the present day, 
for the English cottagers to plant Pumpkins on their 
manure-heaps in the fields and gardens, letting the 
shoots trail along the Grass without taking much 
trouble or care of them. In the second volume of 
The Transactions of the Royal Horticultural Society, 
there is a description, with an account of the cultiva¬ 
tion and figure of the Gourd called Vegetable Marrow, 
read in December, 1816, by Mr. Sabine. It had not 
then been long known in this country. The most 
probable account of its introduction is that the first 
seeds were brought here in one of our East Indian 
ships, and came most likely from Persia, where it is 
known and called Cicrader. Phillips states that the 
Vegetable Marrow ivas not seen for sale in our shops 
or markets before 1819. It is now, as we all know, 
extensively grown, and the fruit is used for culinary 
purposes in every stage of growth. This plant is con¬ 
sidered as a variety of the Pumpkin. Where the 
climate is warm enough for them, all the varieties of 
Gourd are cultivated, and form important articles of 
food ; the superabundant shoots are also used for 
feeding cattle. In America and the islands of the 
West Indies they are extensively cultivated, and some 
species grow to a great size. The Eev. Mr. Griffiths, 
in his Natural History of Barbadoes (1750), men¬ 
tions some which, when cleared of their pith, are 
capable of containing twenty-two gallons ; but he 
adds, however, such are very uncommon. Phillips 
relates that in some parts of America the jugglers or 
quacks extract the pulp out of the Pumpkins, and fill 
them with stones, with which they make a great noise 
and pretend to frighten away all complaints from then- 
superstitious patients. 
The Squash (C. Melopepo) is another kind of 
Gourd, which is a great favourite with the Americans. 
Gourds of large size were found growing by Captain 
Cook in the Sandwich Islands. The inhabitants 
