Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/555

* SQUASH. 477 SQUID. SQUASH (abbreviation of squanter-sguash, sgtiontrr-.w/uash, from North American Indian askutasijuash, asguash, plural of tisg, green, un- ripe). The common name for the fruits and plants of various varieties of Cucurbita Maxima, Cucarbita Pcpo. and Cucurbita Moschata. The term is frequently applied in America to what are known in Europe as pumpkins. Squashes are cooked as a vegetable and also used for making pies. They are of divers forms, with early, late, and mid-season varieties of each. Squashes like a warm fertile soil. They are planted about the same time as corn in hills eight feet apart each way. From four to six seeds are put in each hill, which should be made rich with a few shovels of well-rotted manure placed in the bottom. The winter varieties are gathered upon the approach of frosty weather and left in the sun to cure for a while, being covered at night with hay or like material. Be- fore cold weather sets in the fruits should be stored on shelves one deep in a dry, cool, not cold, room. See Plate of Cucumber Allies. SQUASH. A ball game belonging to the fam- ily of tennis, which it is considered to have preceded in origin. It is pla^'ed with a racquet ' the ball in an inclosed court of varying size without anj' affi.xed standard, but generally less than 40 feet by 20 feet, divided by a central line on the floor and a cross line into four spaces. The underlying principle of squash is that two players try alternately to hit the ball up against the front wall above a 'tell-tale' line. Whichever first fails to do so before the ball's second bounce from the floor loses the point. There are various rules governing the placing of the ball and of scoring, which will best be studied in The Game of Sguash, by Eustace Miles (New York, 1901). SQUASH INSECTS. The insect fauna of the squash and the pumpkin are practically identical, and several insects which feed upon these plants also attack melons, cucumbers, etc. (See Melon Insects. ) The most important in the United States are the squash-bug (Anasa tristis) and its closely similar relative, the horned squash- COMMON eQUA8H-BUG (AnastL tristis). bug (Anasa armigera), the squash-vine borer ( Melittia satyriniformis), and the squash lady- bird (Epilachna borealis). The squash-bug is a dull grayish brown musky-smelling bug of the family Coreidic, a little over half an inch long, which hibernates in the adult stage. Its large golden brown eggs are laid in the spring upon the foliage. The young bugs, which grow rap- idly and molt five times, suck the juices of the plant. Hand-picking the bugs before eggs are laid, kerosene sprayed upon vines started very early to act as decoys, and destruction of the bugs on the vines and fruits after the crop has been gathered, are the only feasible remedies. The squash-vine borer, a clear-winged moth of the family Sesiida>, has an orange or red and black and bronze abdomen and hairy hind legs, red or orange on the ouler surface, and black inside. The }'oung caterpillars liatchcd from eggs laid on the stems in late spring bore into the stem, which wilts and dies. In midsummer the}' pu- pate in a tough cocoon beneath the surface of the ground, whence the adult emrges in spring. In the South a second generation appears in August. The best preventive measures consist in late fall harrowing and deep spring plowing. The squash ladybird, belonging to the genus Epilachna, which contains the only plant-feeding species of the family Coccinellidie (see Lady- bird), is a black-spotted, yellow, hemispherical species of wide geographical distribution. The adult beetles hibernate and lay their eggs upon the leaves in May or June. The yellow, spiny larvip chew circular holes in the leaves, reach full growth in from two to four weeks, and transform to pupae, attaching themselves by the tip of the body to a leaf or stem. There are two or more generations each year, and the insect is readily controlled by an arsenical spray. The pickle-worm, melon caterpillar, certain plant-bugs, and flea-beetles (qq.v. ) are also troublesome. Consult: Smith, Manual of Eco- nomic Entomology (Philadelphia, 1806) : Chit- tenden, Bulletin 19, Dirision of Entomology, Department of Agriculture (Washington, 1899). SQUATTER SOVEREIGNTY. See Popular Sovereignty. SQUAWFISH. A fresh-water fish (Ptyoche- lus Orcgonensis) of California, where it is local- ly known as 'Sacramento pike.' It is the largest American species of the carp family (see Cy- prinid.e), and reaches a length of from three to iive feet. See Plate of Dace and Minnows. SQUEERS, Wackford. In Dickens's Nicholas Xickrlfiy. the heartless, ignorant Yorkshire schoolmaster of Dotheboys Hall. SQUETEAGUE, or Deep-Water Trout. A fish (Gynoscion rcgalis) latterly far more widely known as weakfish (q.v. ). SQUID (of uncertain etymology' ). A cephalo- pod mollusk, differing from the nautilus in hav- ing no outer shell, the body being supported by an inner pen-shaped horny structure, or, in the cuttle of the Mediterranean, by a calcareous 'bone,' flattened oval in shape. The body of the squid is somewhat fish-like, pointed behind, with two fins, while the head is rather large and armed with ten long arms, bearing cup-shaped suckers, two of the arms being longer than the others. The eyes are large and perfect. The mouth is armed with two powerful black teeth, shaped like the jaws of a parrot. At the base of the smaller jaw is the lingual ribbon (radula). With this they divide their food. The squid is provided with an ink-sac. and when attacked it will discharge the water in its mantle through its siphon, the ink passing out with the water as if from a syringe; in this way the water is colored, and under cover of the inky cloud the squid darts backward. Squids are very active and powerful in their movements; they will enter a school of fish, dart to the right or left, and seize a fish, biting it in the nape of the neck and killing it instantly. The body is beau- tifully tinted and spotted with all the colors of the rainbow, and the animal rapidly changes