356 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



THE MELON PEACH AND ITS POSSIBILITIES. 



MRS. A. G. LONG, EXCELSIOR. 



Many of you no doubt are familiar with what is called the melon 

 peach, but are perhaps not aware that the possibilities in its use 

 are almost as varied as that of the peach or apple. 



While we have got a great abundance and surplus of fruit in our 

 household, the melon peach has come to stay as much as the straw- 

 berry. The fruit resembles an orange in size and color; the taste is 

 somewhat like that of the muskmelon, but it is slightly acid. It is 

 very easily grown and is exceedingly prolific. It responds to the 

 same culture as that given the melon and cucumber; however, the 

 hills maybe planted closer, say about four feet each way. It ripens 

 its fruit about the first of August, and this past fall, by covering 

 lightly with marsh hay on cool nights, we extended its season to the 

 first of November, a period of three months. The vine is so prolific 

 that the fruit almost touches one another. One year we picked from 

 a plat of ground containing thirty six square feet three bushels of 

 ripe fruit. In this connection it might be mentioned that the fruit 

 is not thoroughly ripe until it detaches itself from the vine. 



Now as to its uses on the table. When thoroughly ripe it may be 

 used as a sauce in a raw state, by peeling and removing the seeds, 

 then cutting into thin slices, adding sugar and letting it stand a 

 half hour or more, eating it with or without cream, as desired. 



It also makes very delicious pies, which may be improved by the 

 addition of a little lemon extract, or, better still, by a few thin slices 

 of lemon. 



For sweet pickles and mangoes it is unsurpassed, and is treated 

 in the same way as other pickles, which is a matter familiar to all 

 good housewives. 



It is excellently adapted to the making of preserves. The addition 

 of several lemons, thinly sliced, to each pound of fruit enhances its 

 flavor. About a year ago we sent a two quart jar of preserves to a 

 friend without telling her of what they were made. A short time 

 later, a member of her family being ill, a consultation of physicians 

 was held at the house. They were invited to dinner, and the melon 

 peach preserves were served for dessert. No one at the table knew 

 what they were made of, but the doctors attested to their excellency 

 by committing a breach of table ethics in asking for a second dish. 



It is also a good fruit with which to effect a compromise with the 

 small boy, since when it is fully ripe it is relished by him eaten out 

 of the hand, and the bushels of green fruit left at the close of the 

 season serve him admirably as cannon balls in playing war. 



To the dwellers on the prairie, or in places where soil or climatic 

 conditions deny him the pleasure of growing fruit, the melon peach 

 is something that may to a great extent take its place, and it is well 

 worth a trial, even by those who are blessed with an abundance of 

 fruit. 



