Vilmorin

Vilmorin - Andrieux "Plantes Potagers" Vegetable Plants, 1883

vi INTRODUCTION.

In squash, for example, annuals so anciently cultivated, that they have certainly seen several thousand generations succeed each other in the conditions most likely to bring about profound changes of characters, we find, if we want to look at them, the three species that gave birth to all the edible gourds grown; and neither the influences of culture and climate, nor the crossings which may occur from time to time, have created a permanent type or even a form which does not promptly return to one of the three primitive species. In each, the number of variations is almost indefinite; but the limit of these variations seems fixed, or rather it seems to be able to retreat indefinitely without ever reaching or penetrating the limits of variation of another species.

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BENINCASA
Benincasa cerifera Savi. - Cucurbita cerifera Fisch.
Fam. Cucurbitaceae.
SYNONYMS: Squash with wax.

India and China. - Annual. - Plant sarmentous, spread on earth as squash and cucumbers; thin stems with five salient angles, up to 1m, 50 to 2 meters in length; leaves large, slightly hairy, rounded-cordiform and sometimes with three or five lobes slightly marked; axillary, yellow flowers, divided into five divisions almost to the base of the corolla, open in the shape of a flared cut, 0m, 05 to 0m, 06 in diameter; reflective chalice, rather ample, often petaloid. Fruit oblong, cylindrical, very hairy until about the time of maturity, where it reaches a length of 0m, 35 to 0m, 40 over 0m, 10 to 0m, 12 in diameter. It is then covered with a kind of whitish flower or bloom, similar to that which covers the plums, but whiter, much more abundant, and constituting a true vegetable wax. Seed flat, greyish, truncate; there are 21 per gram; the liter weighs 300 grams; the germinative duration is ten years.

Culture. - The culture of benincasa is the same as squash.

Usage. - The fruits are used like squash: the flesh is extremely light, slightly floury and intermediate between squash and cucumber. They can be kept long enough in the winter.

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SQUASH
Cucurbita L.
Fam. Cucurbitaceae.
FOREIGN NAMES: ANGL. Gourd, (Am.) Squash. ALL. Speise-K�rbiss. FLAM. and HOLL. Pompoen. DAN. Gr�skar. lTAL. Zucca. ESP. Calabaza. PORT. Gaba�a.

Squash is one of the oldest and most commonly grown vegetables. The almost innumerable varieties which meet in our cultures have been judged for a long time to be able to come from a single primitive type; nevertheless it is to M. Charles Naudin that the honor of having first brought light into the chaos of species and varieties, and of having scientifically determined the origin and kinship of the various forms, bringing them back to three distinct species: Cucurbita maxima Duch., C. moschata Duch., and C. Pepo L. We will successively describe the varieties derived from each of the different botanical types according to the classification established by him. We do not know of any form of squash that we must necessarily regard as the result of a cross between two of these species.

Although the various cultivated squash originated, as we have just said, from different plants by their botanical characters and by their country, they nevertheless present, in point of view of the vegetation and the product, striking resemblances, which make it clear that they have long been regarded as mere varieties of the same species. They are annuals, climbing and tendrils; stems completely herbaceous, very long, very supple and very tenacious, angular, rough; broad leaves, with fistulous petiole, with orbicular or reniform lobes, sometimes more or less incised, shredded; large, yellow, monoicles flowers. Round or elongated fruit, almost always ribbed and containing the seeds in a central cavity surrounded by generally thick flesh.

The vegetation of the squash is very fast; heat is essential to their development. Originally from tropical countries, they can not be sown in France before the month of May without the aid of artificial heat, and their vegetation is completely suspended by the first frosts, which disorganize all their green parts.

Culture - Squash are usually sown in the ground in the during the month of May. To advance and activate the vegetation, it is customary to make in the ground round holes or square more or less wide and about 0m,50 deep, filled with manure, covered himself 0m,15 or 0m,20 soil or potting soil. It is in this land that we sow the seeds, generally two or three in number per hole; spacing to observe between plants varies according to whether one cultivates a variety or not. When we want to advance the squash, we can either sow them on a layer and also transplant them on layer before putting them in place, ie sow in pots, where they are left until plant in the ground. When you want to get very large fruits, you leave only one, two, or three per foot, choosing the ones that are best conformed and pruning the branches to a few leaves beyond the last fruit. We also use, for the same purpose, the tendency that stems gourds to take root: for this, we cover with soil of place in place and at the place of the nodes, the stems which bear the most beautiful fruits; the roots are soon to form, especially if we take care to water time, In time when necessary, the result is a surplus of food, which is very profitable for its growth.

Usage - Fruits are cooked and consumed in an infinite number of forms, either young or fully developed; there are even varieties whose fruits are used raw like cucumbers.

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I. Cucurbita maxima Duch.
It is this species that gave birth to the most bulky, and among others to those known as of pumpkins. Squash grown from the Cucurbita maxima show in common the following characters. The leaves are big, kidney-shaped, rounded, never deeply divided; many hairs and rough that cover all the green parts of the plant do not become never spinescents. The pieces of the chalice are welded together on a certain length, and all this part, furrowed with some ribs, does not have marked ribs; the divisions of the chalice are going down from the base to the extremity. Finally the peduncle of the fruit is always rounded days and no odds; often it thickens a lot after the blooms, gorges frequently, and acquires a sometimes double diameter or triple that of the stem. The seeds are quite variable in size and colored, but still very smooth; on average, one gram contains only 3, and the liter weighs 400 grams; the germinal duration is six years. The main varieties released from C. maxima are as follows:

PUMPKINS
OTHER NAMES: ANGL. Pumpkin. ALL. Melonen-K�rbiss, Centner-K�rbiss. DAN. Centner-Gr�skar. lTAL. Zucca. ESP. Calabaza totanera. We gather under this name, which does not respond to any botanical division, a number of varieties released from C. maxima, whose fruits are remarkable for their size. Pumpkins are grown in large for the markets or consumption on farms. In the hall of Paris, we have frequently sees fruits weighing more than 50 kilograms.

YELLOW GIANT PUMPKIN.
SYNONYM: Roman pumpkin.
OTHER NAMES: Engl. Large yellow gourd, American G., Mammoth pumpkin. ALL. Go Biesen Centner-K�rbiss. HOLL. Groote gele reuzen meloen-pompoen.

Creeping stems up to 5 to 6 meters long; very large leaves, rounded or at five slight angles, of a rather dark green. Very fruit depressed, with rather marked ribs; bark a salmon-yellow, slightly cracked or embroidered at maturity. Yellow flesh, thick, fine, sweet and long-lasting. In the United States, under the name of Connecticut field pumpkin, one cultivates a plant that looks like P. big yellow, except for its slightly finer bark.

WHITE POTIRON GIANT

Very large fruit, much closer to the spherical shape than that of P. yellow giant; bark very smooth, creamy white. Fine flesh, less colored and of a taste less accentuated than that of the big yellow. His characters of vegetation are exactly the same as those of the previous variety.

This pumpkin is extremely distinct and remarkable for its color and huge volume. However, it is not very cultivated.

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POTIRON ROUGE VIF D'ETAMPES

Medium fruit, narrower and thicker than that of yellow P. large; broad ribs rather marked; bark of a color very bright orange yellow and very distinct. The culture of this variety has made a lot progress since a few years: now is the breed that is seen most frequently at the hall of Paris.

The vegetation characters are the same as in the big yellow P. but the foliage is a little paler.

We can distinguish two races, one of which is completely smooth: it is the one that we regard it as the most frank; the other is more or less cracked and embroidered. Some farmers prefer the latter as having, according to them, the flesh is thicker; it seems to us to be a return to the big yellow P.

GREEN POTIRON BIG.
FOREIGN Name: HOLL. Groene centenaar pompoen.

Big fruit, quite depressed, bark dark green, often embroidered or cracked at maturity. It is a good rustic variety, which is today a little neglected in favor of the next.

GREEN POTIRON OF SPAIN.
FOREIGN Name: ANGL. Spanish gourd

Stems from 3 to 4 meters; medium leaves, rounded, a little dark green ash. Medium or even relatively small fruit, very depressed, dug on two faces, in the axis of the peduncle; green bark often very finely embroidered and then taking a greyish hue. Bright yellow flesh, very thick and of a very long conservation. This excellent variety, very popular today in the markets, has the advantage of producing fruits of moderate volume ordinarily much more appreciated in a household than those of the very large varieties, which we rarely have time to consume all before that they are spoiled: all the squash being very difficult to preserve as soon as the bark is damaged. The plant can easily carry two or three fruits.

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POTIRON GRAY OF BOULOGNE.

The dimensions of the fruit of this beautiful variety bring it closer to the old P. big green, but the appearance of its bark, its color and the quality of its flesh make it more like the P. of Spain.

It is a very vigorous plant, rather hasty and very fertile, with large and broad leaves, with fruits often reaching 0m, 75 to 0m, 90 in diameter, to a thickness of half less. The bark is dark olive green, sometimes a little tanned in the sun and marked with slightly paler bands from insertion of the peduncle to the umbilicus; besides, the whole surface is covered, at the approach of maturity, with innumerable fine embroidery, in short parallel lines, the whole of which gives the fruit the grayish tint which has earned it its name. The flesh is yellow, thick and floury.

This pumpkin can be kept at least as long as that of �tampes. Obtained just a few years ago in Boulogne-sur-Seine, it is already quite widespread and highly appreciated by market gardeners around Paris.

Embroidered Squash GALEUSE.
synonym: Grape scabby of Eysines.

Vigorous plant, with stems up to 4 to 5 meters; leaves large, dark green, with rounded or sometimes wavy contours. This variety, origin Bordeaux, is obviously very close to the giraumon; it differs nevertheless from it by certain very marked characters. First, the yield of the upper part is very little developed or is often lacking; then the whole surface of the fruit, at the moment of maturity, is covered with protuberances of a suberous aspect, analogous to those which appear on so-called embroidered melons; this peculiarity suffices to give the mangy embroidered C. a very distinct appearance. flesh is yellow-orange, very thick, very sweet and of excellent quality.

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BROWN SQUASH
SYNONYMS: Chestnut squash, C. poor bread, Corfu pumpkin.

Vigorous plant, with stems of 4 to 5 meters; rounded leaves, entire, most often waved at the edges. Excellent variety with medium or small fruits, quite depressed, but not concave in the axis of the peduncle, as pumpkins are often; ribs scarcely marked, and even absolutely nil; bark smooth, of intense red-brick color. Flesh dark yellow, very thick, very sweet, very floury, excellent preservation. A plant can easily carry three or four fruits.

COURGE DE VALPARAISO.

Trailing stems, 5 to 6 meters long; whole leaves, a little elongated, toothed, spiny on the edges, of a frank green, sometimes greyish silvery on the upper face. Fruit oblong, thinned at both ends, about 0m long, 40 to 0m, 50 over 0m, 30 to 0m, 35 in its largest diameter, of a shape reminiscent of a lemon; ribs null or scarcely marked; bark a slightly greyish white, furrowed at the maturity of a very large number of small slits or very fine embroidery. Orange-yellow flesh, sweet and delicate. The plant can hardly bear more than two fruits unless it is exceptionally vigorous. The fruits often weigh 12 to 15 kilograms and even more; they are very difficult to preserve.

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OHIO SQUASH.
FOREIGN NAMES: ANGL. (Am.) Californian Marrow, Autumnal M., Ohio squash.

Variety of American origin. Creeping stem, 5 to 6 meters long; leaves whole, rounded, kidney-shaped, or with five lobes not pronounced, sometimes sinuate at the edges. The shape of the fruit is reminiscent of that of C. de Valparaiso; it is, however, less elongated with respect to its diameter, which can reach 0m, 25, whereas the length of the fruit hardly exceeds 0m, 30 to 0m, 35; ribs very little marked; bark almost completely smooth, of a slightly salmon pink color.

The flesh, very floury, is highly esteemed in the United States, where the C. of Ohio and the next are most cultivated. One foot can hardly bear more than three or four fruits.

GREEN HUBBARD SQUASH.
FOREIGN NAMES: ANGL. Hubbard squash.

Very vigorous breed, with trailing, branching stems, easily reaching 5 to 6 meters in length; leaves rounded, slightly sinuate and very finely toothed at the edges. The shape of this variety is somewhat reminiscent of that of the Ohio C., but is often shorter, more pointed towards the umbilicus, and differs especially in its dark green color sometimes marbled with reddish. The flesh is dark yellow, very floury, slightly sweet, a little dry, and goes to America to be of excellent quality. The fruit is very long-lasting; the bark is so hard and so thick that it can not always be pierced with an ordinary knife. The plant can easily carry five or six fruits and bring them to all their development.

The C. marblehead, native to the United States as C. de Hubbard, is distinguished only by the hue of its bark, which is ash gray.

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OLIVE SQUASH.

The origin of this variety is not known to us in a certain way; but, after two years of cultivation, it seemed quite interesting for us deserve to be described separately. It is a vigorous plant, obviously derived C. maxima, whose fruits, weighing from 3 to 5 kilos, have exactly the shape and the color of a green olive; the skin is completely smooth, the bark thin, yellow flesh, firm, very abundant and of a quality quite remarkable. His only fault is to be a little late for the latitude of Paris.

SQUASH OF VALENCIA.

Fruit of a particular form, swollen at the base, at first almost cylindrical, and ending in a rounded point; very marked ribs; bark smooth, of a greyish green, reminiscent of the hue of green pumpkins. Bright yellow flesh, quite abundant and of good quality. The length of the stems reaches 5 to 6 meters. This breed is rather late and hardly reaches maturity in the north of France; it is productive and vegetates with great vigor.

GIRAUMON PUMPKIN.
SYN. : Turkish hat, Turban, Turbanet, Iroquois pumpkin, Squash of St. Jean.
FOREIGN NAMES: ANGL. Turk's cap, Turban pumpkin. ALL. T�rkenbund-Kurbiss. ESP. Calabaza bonetera.

Variety of squash very characterized and known by everyone because of its special shape, which made it give its vulgar name of Turkish hat or Turban. There is an almost unlimited number of breeds, all with the characteristic turban shape of this variety, but differing in size and color from the fruit. The most cultivated form, that may be called the type of the variety, gives fruits weighing about 3 to 4 kilograms, presenting on the opposite side to the peduncle a bulge in the form of a cap, sometimes hemispherical, other times formed of four or five ribs separated by so many deep furrows. The color of G. turban is almost never uniform; the fruit often has variegations, which are quite variable. Most often the fruit is variegated with dark green, yellow and red; one of these three colors is frequently missing, and sometimes even the whole fruit is dark green. The flesh of the giraumon is of a beautiful orange-yellow color, thick, floury and sweet.

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Giraumon Little of China.
FOREIGN NAME: CHIN. Hong-nan-koua.

This pretty little giraumon was recently introduced from China by the intermediary of the Museum of Natural History of Paris. It is a very distinct plant, which seems to have a real merit. It differs from giraumons hitherto known in Europe by the small volume of its fruits, the weight of which does not usually exceed 800 to 1200 grammes. They are usually bright red, variegated longitudinally with yellow and dark green; the crown is well marked, but usually does not protrude. The flesh is yellow, firm, floury and quite sweet. Each foot can carry ten fruits and even more. The maturity is quite early and the perfect conservation. It is one of the few vegetable races that we have received from China.

OTHER BREEDS OF Cucurbita maxima.

A pumpkin of medium size, slightly depressed, with very short ribs, is sometimes found under the name of Squash of Cyprus or musky C. bark smooth, greyish, variegated or jaspered with pale green or pink. This squash succeeds well in the South; it's a bit late for the Paris climate.

It is again at C. maxima that a variety of squash must be brought runner, introduced fifteen or twenty years ago from South America, under the name Zapallito de tronco. This variety, not very productive, seems to have disappeared from the cultures.

It is grown in North America under the name of Essex hybrid squash or American turban, a race of giraumon with thick, almost cylindrical fruit, with a sparse crown, of a smooth salmon-pink hue, which reproduces almost exactly that of the gourd of Ohio.

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Cucurbita moschata Duch.

Varieties derived from this species all have runner stems, long and easily rooted; they are, as well as the leaves and the petioles, covered with numerous hairs that do not become spiny: finally, they are recognized by this characteristic that the peduncle, presenting five angles or five ribs, as in Cucurbita pepo, widens or expands at its insertion on the fruit. The leaves are not cut, but have rather sharp angles; the foliage is dark green, with silver-white patches on the skin, produced by the presence of a thin layer of air below the epidermis, which rises in places between the principal veins. The calyx has divided divisions almost to the peduncle, and often wider at the extremity than at the base; they sometimes become leafy. The seeds are of a variable size, but always of a dirty white, distinctly margined and covered with a little adherent film, which is often detached in parts and gives them a fluffy appearance. On average, one gram contains seven, and the liter weighs 120 grams; their germinative duration is six years.

The name of this species comes from the musky flavor that presents, at a more or less high degree, the flesh of its various varieties.

SQUASH NAPLES LONG.
SYNONYMS: African squash, C. of Florida, C. portemant�au, C. suitcase.
Foreign names: ALL. Grosser Neapolitanischer Mantelsack-K�rbiss. HOLL. Mantelzack pompoen.

Trailing stems, 3 to 4 meters long; medium leaves, whole, rounded, or five-angled, of a dull dark green, marked with veins and macules of a whitish gray, which distinctly cut on the bottom. A voluminous fruit, 0m long, 50 to 0, 60 over 0m, 15 to 20, in its largest diameter: the nearest portion of the peduncle is almost cylindrical; the other part, on the contrary, is more or less swollen, and it is only in the center of this part that the seeds are, the whole thinner portion being filled with flesh without any interior cavity. Bark smooth, dark green becoming yellowish at full maturity. Orange-yellow flesh very abundant, sweet and fragrant and of good conservation. This squash is very productive and the fruits are of excellent quality; it has no other fault than its maturity a little late.

The full C. of Algiers and the C. Bedouins do not appear to be anything but the full C. of Naples.

A really gigantic breed is cultivated in Italy, the fruit of which, usually a little curved, frequently measures one meter in length and weighs from 15 to 20 kilograms.

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COURGE PORTEMANTEAU HATIVE
FOREIGN Name: ALL. Fr�ller Mautelsack-K�rbiss.

All the vegetation characters of this variety are the same as those from the previous one; it differs only in the smaller volume of its fruit and its significantly higher precocity. It is, in this respect, a very valuable plant and whose cultivation should be recommended in the climate from the north of France, preferably to that of the full C. of Naples.

NECK CANADA.
FOREIGN NAMES: ANGL. Fall, winter, or Canada crook-neck gourd or squash.

This pretty little breed is quite close to the early C. portemanteau; it differs from it chiefly in that the portion of the fruit next to the peduncle is completely full of flesh, as in the full C. in Naples, and generally curved like a swan neck, as is the case, for example, in squash siphon. The C. cou tors du Canada has the same qualities as the previous one in terms of the precocity, flavor and good preservation of fruits; but it is a small plant, whose stems hardly exceed 1m, 60 to 2 meters in length. It is therefore well suited to gardens of mediocre extent.

OTHER BREEDS OF Cucurbita moschata.

There are also forms of C. moschata whose fruit is not elongated, but on the contrary rounded or even depressed.

Among the first, we will mention C. melonette de Bordeaux, a plant with vigorous vegetation, many fruits, almost cylindrical and flattened at both ends, a little drum-shaped, as wide as long, with slightly marked ribs. It is a productive variety and an excellent vegetable, but a little late maturity.

C. violette,, du Midi, and C. pascale, are two varieties extremely close to C. melonette de Bordeaux and, like her, forms of C. moschata with almost spherical fruit.

As squash of section C. moschata has depressed fruit, we only know the C. de Yokohama, Japanese variety already several times introduced in Europe. It is a race very run, a little late; with flattened fruit, especially on the side of the eye, generally twice as wide as long, but sometimes even more depressed, of an almost black green, with irregularly marked ribs, and with a surface sometimes rough and rough, a little like that Prescott cantaloupes. It is the Cucurbita meloniformis of M. Carri�re (see Revue horticole, 1 April 1880, p. 137 and 16 November 1880, p. 431).

According to the figures and models presented at the Universal Exhibition of 1878, there would exist in Japan similar squash, as form and volume, to the pumpkin of Touraine, and seeming to derive from C. moschata.

We have had occasion to observe them otherwise than in these reproductions.

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III Cucurbita pepo L.

This species gave birth to a very large number of cultivated breeds which reproduce, all, the following characters belonging to the mother plant: Leaves always pronounced lobes, often deeply cut, hair becoming here and there spinescents; peduncles of fruits with pentagonal section or raised five ribs or angles, not widening at the place of insertion on the fruit and becoming extremely hard at maturity. Chalice having its divisions welded on a certain part of their length and often slightly strangled below their point of departure; the part between the peduncle and this constriction is generally marked by five rather prominent ribs, the divisions of the calyx are attenuated from the base to the point. Seeds of extremely variable appearance, but still marginal and rarely as large as those varieties released from C. maxima. It may be said that, on the average, the seeds of the real squash taken out of C. pepo weigh 425 grammes per liter, and that one gram contains from six to eight; those of patissons and coloquintes are much smaller; the germinative duration of all is six years and more.

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SQUASH WITH HAM.
SYNONYMS: Plant marrow, Indian White Souki.
FOREIGN NAMES: ANGL. Vegetable brown. ALL. Englischer Schmeer-K�rbiss. FLAM. Mergpompoen. DAN. Mandel-Groeskar.

Plant runner, with thin and long stems; medium leaves, deeply divided into five lobes, which are often themselves wavy or toothed at the edges, of a frank green sometimes sprinkled with grayish spots, very rough to the touch. Fruit oblong, 0m, 25 to 0m, 40 in length by 0m, 10 to 0m, 12 in diameter, bearing, especially near the peduncle, five or ten more or less accentuated ribs; bark smooth, dull yellow or yellowish white. The fruits are usually eaten when they have reached about half of their development: the flesh is then very tender and soft; on the contrary, it becomes quite dry at the time of maturity.

White Squash Non Runner
Synonym: Virginia squash.
FOREIGN NAMES: ANGL. Short-jointed long white gourd or squash, Long white bush marrow. ALL. Wcisse K�rbiss ohne Ranken.

Variety extremely distinct because of its mode of vegetation. The stems, in fact, instead of lying down, remain very short, rather large, giving birth nearly to the leaves of a dark green with some grayish macules, deeply cut and toothed on the edges. Fruit more elongated than those of marrow squash, reaching 0m, 35 to 0m, 50 in length over 0m, 12 to 0m, 15 in diameter, a little thinned and marked with five ribs.

Like those of C. marrow, fruits are usually eaten before they are fully ripe and replaced successively with new fruits.

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ITALIAN SQUASH.
SYNONYM: Coucourzelle.
FOREIGN NAMES: ANGL. ltalian vegetable marrow. ALL. Lange gr�ngefleckte Italienische K�rbiss. ITAL. Cocozella di Napoli.

Extremely distinct, non-running breed, with very large and very short stems, emitting numerous leaves of a deep green, very large and very deeply cut into five or seven lobes, themselves more or less notched: the meeting of these leaves forms a real bush. Fruit very elongated, reaching 0m, 50 and more in length over a diameter of 0m, 07 to 0m, 10, furrowed by five ribs, especially in the portion which is near the peduncle and which is thinner than the rest of the fruit; bark very smooth, dark green marbled with yellow or lighter green. In all Italy, where this squash is. it is very generally cultivated, and the young fruit are consumed when they are barely the size of a small cucumber, sometimes even before the flower has bloomed. The ovary is then picked, which is barely the size and length of the finger. The plants which are thus prevented from developing fruit continue to flower for several months with remarkable abundance, and each foot can give a very large number of small squash which, picked in this state, are extremely tender and delicate.

Squash SUGAR BRAZIL.
FOREIGN NAME: ALL: Brasilianischer Zucker-K�rhiss.

Plant with long, thin stems, runners; leaves lobed, rough, very dark green, plain, finely blistered and embossed. Fruits oblong, rather short, swollen in the middle, with five ribs very little marked, sometimes slightly warty; green bark, becoming orange at maturity. Yellow flesh, thick and very sweet.

The Brazilian C. Sugar is a very recommendable variety because of its precocity, the abundance and the quality of its fruits, and their long conservation. Maturity is half-hasty.

COURGE OF PATAGONS.
Name: ANGL. Patagonian squash.

Runners, very long; large leaves, lobed, dark green.

Fruits long 0m,30 to 0m,50, and wide 15 to 0m,20, marked throughout their length by five very regular ribs, forming as many rounded protruding grooves; bark smooth, extremely dark green, almost black, not changing color at maturity. Yellow flesh, of mediocre quality. Variety remarkable for its hardiness and great product.

It has been recommended, under the name of squash or cucumber of Alsace, a plant which approaches the C. des Patagons, but whose fruit is less angular and of a less dark green. The fully developed fruits, but still imperfectly ripe, are used in salad, cut into slices and seasoned in the same way as pickles. With some care, they can be kept for part of the winter.

COURGERON OF GENEVA.

Non-running plant; leaves long petiolate, medium, of a frank green, rather deeply cut into elongated lobes and toothed on the edges. Fruits numerous, small, very depressed, of 0m, 12 to 0m, 15 of diameter over 0m, 05 to 0m, 08 of thickness; bark smooth, of a brown green, becoming orange at maturity. Yellow flesh; not thick. The fruit is eaten young, before having taken all its development, like the marrow squash.

NECK HATIVE.
SYNONYM: Crooked squash.
FOREIGN Names: ANGL. Early bush or summer crook-neck gourd or squash.

Non-running plant, forming a tuft like patissons; leaves of a deep green, large, toothed on the edges, more or less cut in three or five lobes rather acute.

Fruit of a very bright orange color, elongated, covered with numerous rounded growths, narrowed and most often curved in the nearest portion of the peduncle, swollen in the opposite part, but always terminating in a point.

This variety is not recommended as a vegetable; it is used in the manner of colocynth, as an ornamental fruit. The hardness of its bark makes it easy to preserve all winter, always keeping the beautiful orange color that characterizes it.

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CITROUILLE OF TOURAINE.
FOREIGN Name: ANGL. Large Tours pumpkin.

Creeping stems, exceeding 5 and 6 meters long; leaves very large, of a dark green and strewn with some grayish macules, sometimes whole, most often divided into three or five lobes. Fruit rounded or elongate, generally flattened at both ends, with very slight ribs, smooth surface, pale green or greyish, marked with darker bands and mottling; they can weigh up to 40 and 50 kilograms. The flesh is yellow, not extremely thick and of mediocre quality. The seed is very large: one gram contains only three, and the liter weighs 250 grammes; the germinative duration is scarcely four or five years.

The pumpkin of Touraine is generally grown only for livestock feed.

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PATISSONS.
SYNONYMS: Elector's Bean, Priest's Bean, Imperial Crown, Jerusalem Artichoke, Spanish Artichoke, Astrakhan's Arbuffle, Astrakhan's Arbustus.
FOREIGN NAMES: ANGL. Crown gourd, Custard marrow; (Am.) Scollop G., Custard G., Pattypan. ALL. Bischofsm�tze. FLAM. Prinsenmuts.

Patissons are one of the most curious breeds among those which are from Cucurbita pepo. They are non-running plants, with large leaves, a frank green, entire or five lobes little marked. Fruit very depressed in the direction of the axis, that is to say, much shorter than broad; the contour, instead of being rounded, presents five or ten outgrowths or divergent divergent teeth, or more or less curved towards the umbilicus of the fruit. The fruits of the patissons are quite full; the flesh is firm, not very sweet, but rather floury; bark very smooth, of varying color and volume. The seed is small, relatively to that of the other squash of C. pepo: one gram contains 10, and the liter weighs 430 grams. The most commonly grown varieties of patissons are as follows.

Yellow patisson. It seems to be the primitive variety or type of cultivated patissons. It has the skin of a yolk of plain butter; teeth or divisions of the crown quite pronounced and curved towards the umbilicus.

Green patisson. Fruit of a dark green, almost plain or slightly marbled, a very dark color first and yellowing at the approach of maturity.

Orange patisson. Similar, by its shape, to P. yellow, but of a color much more intense, approaching that of a ripe orange.

Variegated patisson. Often with runners; rather small fruits, with teeth not very pronounced, very nicely variegated with green and white.

Patisson warty. Fruit whose lobes are poorly developed, but whose the bark, creamy white, is all dotted with rounded warts.

All these varieties produce many fruits and a small volume. A vigorous foot can carry up to ten or twelve.

The improved variegated patisson is distinguished from the previous varieties by the much stronger volume of its fruits, which often weigh 3 or 4 kilograms; a foot does not usually wear more than three or four. By form and color they resemble those of ordinary variegated P.

Gourds. Synonyms: Coloquinelle. Foreign names: ANGL. Fancy gourd. ALL. Kleine Zierk�rbiss. HOLL. Kawoerd call, Kolokwint, Bitterappel. ITAL., ESP. and PORT. Coloquintida.