The name given to this variety is “melopepo.” These last do not grow hanging, but assume their round shape as they lie on the ground. A thing that is very remarkable in them, in addition to their shape, colour, and smell, is the fact that, when ripe, although they do not hang from the stem, they separate from it at the stalk. Columella[965] has given us a plan of his, by which we may have cucumbers the whole year round: the largest bramble-bush that can be procured is transplanted to a warm, sunny spot, and then cut down, about the time of the vernal equinox, to within a couple of fingers of the ground; a cucumber-seed is then inserted in the pith of the bramble, and the roots are well moulded up with fine earth and manure, to withstand the cold. According to the Greeks, there are three kinds of cucumbers, the Laconian, the Scytalic, and the Bœotian,[966] the Laconian being the only one among them that is fond[967] of the water. There are some persons who recommend steeping the seed of the cucumber in the juice of the herb known as the “culix;”[968] the produce, they say, will be sure to grow without seeds. CHAP. 24.—GOURDS. Gourds resemble the cucumber in nature, at least in their manner of growing; they manifest an equal aversion to the winter, too, while they require constant watering and manure. Both cucumbers and gourds are sown in holes a foot and a half[969] deep, between the vernal equinox and the summer solstice, at the time of the Parilia[970] more particularly. Some persons, however, think it better to sow gourds after the calends of March,[971] and cucumbers after the nones,[972] and at the time of the Quinquatria.[973] The cucumber and the gourd climb upwards in a precisely similar manner, their shoots creeping along the rough surface of the walls, even to the very roof, so great is their fondness for elevated spots. They have not sufficient strength, however, to support themselves without the aid of stays. Shooting upwards with the greatest rapidity, they soon cover with their light shade the arched roofs of the houses and the trellises on which they are trained. From this circumstance it is that we find the gourd classified into two primary kinds, the roof-gourd,[974] and the common gourd, which creeps upon the ground. In the first kind, from a stalk of remarkable thinness is suspended a fruit of considerable weight and volume, and quite immoveable by the action of the wind. The gourd, too, as well as the cucumber, admits of being lengthened to any extent, by the aid of osier tubes more particularly. Just after the blossom has fallen off, the plant is introduced into these tubes, and as it grows it can be made to assume any form that may be wished, that of a serpent coiled up being the one that is mostly preferred; if left at liberty to grow as it hangs, it has been known before now to attain to no less than[975] nine feet in length.