Water-Melon and the Cucumber in Russia. 127 



very strong and creeping shoots, which the plant sends out du- 

 ring its progress, as ah-eady described, but either to raise the 

 frames, and allow them to spread out into an adjoining one, or to 

 keep them, by bending, entirely within its own, which, in that 

 case, would require to be long and roomy. The former way I 

 would prefer. It is to neglecting this, that the gardeners in 

 Russia attribute the general failure in the cultivation of the 

 water-melon in Great Britain. If the shoots are, in any way 

 checked, or injured, during their growth, the plant is observed to 

 suffer considerably, and the future progress of the fruit towards 

 maturity is either interrupted or totally destroyed. Attention 

 to this circumstance, is of much more consequence than heat, as 

 is satisfactorily and daily proved in the northern parts of Rus- 

 sia. It is also well known, that the water-melon plant, propa- 

 gated by artificial heat, produced by glass frames, will flourish 

 and the fruit reach its full size, at the same temperature at 

 which any of the common species of melon will do. My friend, 

 Mr Booker, has them every season growing in great perfec- 

 tion among other melons, in his garden at Cronstadt ; and mere- 

 ly from paying attention to this, Mr Cole has the same at the 

 Taurida Palace-Garden near St Petersburg. As the plants 

 are remarkably strong and luxuriant, and send out very large 

 and bushy shoots, one plant is quite sufficient to fill a large 

 sized glass-frame. 



Water-melons are known to be ripe, not by the smell but by 

 the peculiar sensation which they communicate when struck, a 

 knowledge of which can only be acquired by experience. If they 

 are allowed to remain adhering to the plant, until the seeds shake 

 within them, they will be found good for nothing, excepting fu- 

 ture propagation from the seed. When the extremely tough 

 skin, covering the water-melon, is removed, and they are cut 

 into slices, they may be eaten in the raw state with salt, in the 

 manner of celery. The arbouse, when eaten in quantity, I am 

 told, acts as a diuretic ; and when in Russia, I was informed by 

 a physician of a remarkable case of obstinate 'gonorrhoea being 

 cured by it. 



The Cucumber. 



Cucumbers are made use of in large quantities by the native 

 Russians, and by foreigners settled in the country ; both during 



