Show pumpkin squash used to produce many fruits over cross pollinations Polli nations the production of about a dozen fruits from more than a hundred cross pollinations polli nations between different varieties of pumpkins and squash made at the state experiment station at geneva N Y says the scientific american has thrown considerable sid erable light on the botanical relationships tion ships of these groups and incidentally has given rise to several new forms that seem to be either immune or highly resistant to squash mosaic many unsuccessful attempts to hybridize these two vegetables have been made during the last century hence the success attending the station trials is being watched with considerable interest because of the many possibilities it holds for developing new and better varieties is the technical name for pumpkins and squashes of which three annual species are more or less commonly grown explains professor van eseltine station botanist these species are known as maxima which includes the winter squashes such as hubbard boston marrow and related types moscha ta also known as the grammas and best illustrated by the japanese pie winter crookneck and the like and pepo or the pumpkins the fall squashes and the summer squashes or scallops vegetable marrows and similar forms in each case the forms within these groups crossed readily but the groups would not cross with each other this seemed to establish the specific identity of the three groups in 1930 an attempt was again made to cross these thes different groups in a study of the origin of the annual as about a dozen fruits have been obtained from these crosses and while they present many interesting possibilities including evidence of marked resistance to squash mosaic much further study will be required before any very definite conclusions can come from these investigations |