82 BULLETIN OF THE BUSSEY INSTITUTION. 
already been gained in good part. That is to say, the average chemi- 
cal composition of the maize plant, both stalk and grain, has been 
determined with a considerable degree of accuracy.* 
Some attention has been paid to the composition of pumpkins, also, 
by European chémists, as will be shown directly. But I have never- 
theless found myself in some doubt, when speculating upon the fodder- 
ing practices of New England, as to what value should be allotted to 
the pumpkins grown in this country, and have on this account been led 
to investigate the question anew. For the sake of contrast, I have 
had analyses made of the common marrow squash of the vicinity of 
Boston, of the Hubbard squash, and of the crook-necked squash. 
The pumpkins analyzed were the common round yellow varieties. 
They were grown upon farms not far from the Bussey Institution, and 
were obtained in the middle of October, 1876. Both the large and the 
small kinds of pumpkins were examined, as will appear from the state- 
ments below. Both with the pumpkins and with the squashes that are 
to be described hereafter, the flesh, the rind, and the inside portion, 
consisting of the seeds with the loose stringy matter that is attached to 
them, were examined separately ; and, in order to obtain fair average 
samples of these materials, two individual Ra or squashes were 
operated upon in each case. 
I. Large Pumpkin. Specimen a weighed 14 kil. (nearly 31 Ibs.), 
and was 11X14 inches in diameter. Specimen 0 weighed 8} kil. and 
measured 1012 inches. The flesh of a was noticeably coarse-grained, 
and rather spongy, though perfectly sound. In order to obtain material 
for the analyses, the pumpkins were cut in halves lengthwise, and the 
contents of the seed cavity were removed by scraping with a porcelain 
dish. Quantities of this inside matter were immediately weighed out for 
the estimation of moisture. The remainder of the vegetable was then 
sliced lengthwise, and the rind pared off to the depth of about a milli- 
metre; portions of the flesh and of the rind being taken from different 
* Compare Atwater, “ American Journal of Science,” 1869, 48. 352; the 
tables in Johnson’s ‘How Crops Grow,” p. 886; and those in Dietrich and 
Keenig’s “ Zusammensetzung der Futterstoffe,” Berlin, 1874, pp. 4, 27. Exclu- 
sive of the work of Atwater, and that cited by Johnson, Dietrich and Kenig 
report twelve different analyses of maize grain, and eight analyses of fodder 
corn, made by a number of different chemists. There have been several 
other analyses published still more recently. 
Since this note was written an important paper on fodder corn, by Professor 
S. W. Johnson, of New Haven, has been published in the “ American Journal 
of Science.” March 1877, (8.) 13. 202. 
