Rond. Vil. Cerise grosse.
This is but a sub-variety of the Common Red Cherry-pepper, differing only in its larger size.
It is quite late, and should be started in a hot-bed.
Squash-Pepper.
Tomato-shaped.
Fruit compressed, more or less ribbed, about two inches and three-quarters in diameter, and two inches in depth; skin smooth and glossy,—when ripe, of a brilliant coral-red; flesh thick, mild and pleasant to the taste, though possessing more piquancy than the Large Bell or Sweet Spanish.
Plant about two feet high, stout and branching; leaves broad and large; flowers white, an inch and a quarter in diameter; fruit drooping, the fruit-stem short and thick.
The Squash-pepper is extensively grown for the market, and is most in use in the pickle warehouses of the Eastern and Middle States. In field-culture, the plants are started in hot-beds in April, and, after the beginning of summer weather, transplanted to the open ground, fourteen to eighteen inches apart, according to the quality of the soil. The fruit is generally sold by weight; and an acre of land, in a fair state of cultivation, will yield about three tons,—a bushel of the thick-fleshed sort weighing nearly thirty-two pounds. An excellent pickle may be made by preparing the peppers in the manner directed for the Bell variety.
As grown by different market-men and gardeners, there are several sub-varieties of the Squash-pepper, differing both in form and in the thickness of the flesh; the latter quality, however, being considered of the greater importance, as the thick-fleshed sorts not only yield a greater weight to the acre, but are more esteemed for the table.
The Squash-pepper succeeds well when sown in the open ground in May, in drills fourteen inches apart. The plants should be ten or twelve inches apart in the rows; for, when grown too closely, they are liable to draw up, making a weakly, slender growth, and yield much less than when allowed sufficient space for their full development. Low-growing, stocky, and branching plants are the most productive.