Courge. Kuerbis.

No. 1463. - The Squash is one of the most nutritious and valuable of all garden vegetables. The summer varieties appear early, and are very palatable, while the winter sorts can be had in perfection in August. All of the varieties are tender annuals and thrive best in a warm temperature.

Culture

No. 1464. - Plant them in warm weather, and cultivate them generally as you would cucumbers or melons, being particular about the soil. The summer varieties should be planted six feet apart each way, and the winter varieties at a distance of eight feet. Three plants are sufficient for one hill. Care should be taken not to injure or break the stems of those intended for winter use, as the slightest injury increases their liability to decay.

Summer Varieties

Apple Squash

No. 1465. - This variety is healthy and vigorous, but not stocky. The skin is thin, tender and yellowish-white in color when young. It is hard and shell-like when ripe. When green and small, the flesh is dry and well flavored.

Crooked Neck Summer Bush Squash

No. 1466. - This is a dwarf variety about two and a half feet high. The fruit is largest at the blossom end and tapers gradually to the neck, which is solid and more or less curved. The skin is tender, warty and easily broken. When young, the flesh is of a greenish-yellow color, dry and well flavored. It is one of the finest summer varieties, but is used only when young and tender and when the skin can be pierced easily. When the skin hardens the flesh becomes watery, strongly flavored and unfit for table use.

Early Yellow Scalloped Bush Squash

No. 1467. - This is an erect, dwarf variety. The fruit is hemispherical in form, and expanded at the edge, which is deeply and regularly scalloped. It is yellow in color, and the skin, while young, is thin and easily pierced. When it matures the skin is hard and shell-like. The flesh is pale-yellow in color, finely grained and well flavored. It is not as dry as the summer crooked neck variety.

Egg Squash

No. 1468. - This is an ornamental variety and is generally cultivated for its peculiar egg-like fruit, being seldom used for the table.

Green Striped Bergen Squash

No. 1469. - This variety, which is largely cultivated in the Eastern States, is early, but not very productive. It is eaten either when green or when fully ripe. It is a small and vigorous plant, with bell-shaped fruit of a dark green color, striped with white.

Large Warted, Crooked Neck Summer Squash

No. 1470. - It is similar to the dwarf variety but much larger in size. The skin is of a clear, bright yellow color, with wart-like excrescences over the surface. The flesh is of a greenish-yellow color and is coarse in texture. It is hardy and productive.

Orange Squash

No. 1471.- This variety is cultivated more as an ornament than for table use. The fruit is of the size, form and color of an orange.