A Squash Or A Pumpkin?
Because of the considerable controversy generated by the recent WAYNE'S WORD article about the Wild and Wonderful World of Gourds
["Gourds As Codpieces Among Other Uses For The Gourd," Vol. 5
(No. 3) Fall 1996], it is necessary to clarify and update the
section about "The World's Largest Fruit." According to
Cucurbits, the official journal of the World Pumpkin
Confederation, a 1993 record-breaking pumpkin weighed in at 836
pounds and a giant squash tipped the scales at just over 700
pounds. One year later at the "Gourd Olympics" at Port Elgin,
Ontario the reign of the pumpkin was finally broken by a 900
pound squash. Then on October 7, 1995, a TV news program reported a new world record-breaking pumpkin weighing 939 pounds. Much to the dismay of squash lovers, the
pumpkin was once again crowned the undisputed world's largest fruit. But was the short-lived reign of the squash really broken? In the search for the truth, WAYNE'S WORD contacted the international headquarters of the World Pumpkin Confederation in Collins, New York. According to the editor of Cucurbits, Ray Waterman, this latest pumpkin record was not entered in an official WPC contest. In fact, the largest pumpkin recorded for 1995 by the WPC was 789 pounds, 47 pounds shy of the 1993 award-winning pumpkin and 111 pounds shy of the 1994 award-winning squash. Furthermore, many of these unofficial contests are conducted without specific rules governing the proper weighing of pumpkins, including carrying devices or tarps and calculation of tare weights. In addition, the actual determination of squash vs. pumpkin must be uniformly established, otherwise these unofficial contests are meaningless. With all due respects to the pumpkin, the record for the largest fruit in the world still goes to the 900 pound squash.
You are probably wondering what really constitutes a pumpkin or a squash, and are there any rules governing this world class rivalry? As
it was stated in the WAYNE'S WORD gourd article, the general terms
pumpkin and squash have no precise botanical meaning. They may
refer to any of the New World species of Cucurbita pepo, C.
maxima, C. moschata or C. mixta; however, many popular pumpkins are varieties of C. pepo, and the largest pumpkins probably come from C. maxima. Generally, the hard-rind varieties of squash and pumpkins are best for baking. To enter your giant pumpkin in the
official World Pumpkin Confederation Annual Weigh-Off it must be
cream-yellow to orange; if it is green to gray or mottled in
color it must be entered as a squash. If these rules are not
followed you will be disqualified. Also the vine must be trimmed
to one inch from the stalk of the fruit, and the total weight
cannot include any carrying device or tarp.
For a seed list, the WPC newsletter Cucurbits and more
information about the World Pumpkin Confederation please contact the following addresses:
PHONE: (716) 532-5995
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