764 



PRACTICE OF GARDENING. 



Part III. 



very high-flavored, if eaten sharp-ripe. 

 The plant is a better bu-arer than any 

 other large sort. 



Fair's romana. Small, oval, smooth, 

 solid and ponderous ; the rind hard, 

 greenish-yellow when fit to cut; and 

 the flesh a pale yellow, not very juicy ; 

 well-flavored and agreeable; may be 

 pared very near to the rind. The plant 

 is a very great bearer. 



The polignac A rich-flavored middle- 

 sized oval fruit, in frequent cultivation. 



The small Portugal, or dormer, noted 

 as a good bearer, and a very early 

 variety. 



The black Portugal, or Galloway. A sub- 

 variety of the former. 



The salonica. Nearly spherical, and 

 without any depressions on its surface; 

 color that of gold, pulp, pure white; 

 improves in flavor and richness till it 

 becomes quite soft ; consistence of its 

 pulp is nearly that of a water-melon, 

 and it is very sweet A full-grown 

 specimen of the fruit generally weighs 

 about 71b. ( Knight, in Hort. Trans, ii.) 



The dampsha melon. A variety from 

 Persia ; nearly cylindrical and netted ; 

 color varying from pale and yellowish- 

 green to dark-olive : flesh bright and 



deep green near the skin ; pale to- 

 wards the centre, quite melting, and 

 of excellent flavor ; hung up by the 

 stalk, or in nets in a dark room, it 

 keeps until the winter months. (Old- 

 acre, in Hort. Tram. iv. 212.) 



The sweet melon of I spahan. Fruit ovate, 

 varies in length from eight to twelve 

 inches ; nearly quite smooth, of a deep 

 sulphur-color ; skin very thin, flesh 

 white, extending about halfway to the 

 centre; crisp, sugary, and rich in taste. 

 (Hort. Trans, iii. p. "117.) 



The Levant melon. Oval, slightly lobed, 

 green-fleshed, milky, sweet and high- 

 flavored. (Hort. Trans, iv. 514.) 



The winter melon, (.fig. 508.) Cultivated 

 in various countries bordering on the 

 Mediterranean sea, and particularly in 

 the orange gardens at Hieres, in Tou Ion, 

 whence its fruit is sent to Paris. Skin 

 thin, flesh white, firm, saccharine, and 

 juicy ; not rich, but pleasant. The 

 shape oval ; size, about a foot long, and 

 eight inches broad ; color a dark green. 

 This fruit is regularlv imported, and 

 may be had in the fruit-shops from 

 September to January. (Hort. Trans. 

 iii. p. 116.) 



Tlie water-melon. Cucurbita. (See 4209. x 



Themontagu cantaleujie.is a variety pro- 

 duced from the two last-named sorts; 

 intermediate in size between them ; 

 greenish-white without ; the flesh an 

 inch and a half in thickness, not very 

 high colored, but soft and juicy, com- 

 pletly melting in the mouth, and with 

 a verv sweet and delicate flavor. (Hort. 

 Trans, iv. 120.) 



The green-fleshed Ionian cantaleupe. Le- 

 mon-colored and lemon-shaped ; large, 

 thin-skinned, no great bearer, and does 

 not readilv mature seeds, but of excel- 

 lent flavor. (Caled. Mem. iv. 210.) 



The green-fleshed Egyptian melon. Mid- 

 dle-sized, round, netted ; in habits and 

 flavor resembling the last-named va- 

 riety. (Caled. Mem. iv. 210.) 



Lee's romana. Middle sized, longish ; 

 shallow-furrowed, solid, and ponder- 

 ous. Rind hard, partly netted, and 

 pale-yellow ; flesh a full yellow, pretty 

 nigh-flavored, but not very juicy. 

 Plant a good bearer. 



The large netted romana. The largest 

 of the romanas, regularly netted all 

 over, shallow-furrowed, oval, solid, 

 and very ponderous, often attains to 

 nine or ten pounds in weight. Rind 

 hard, pale-yellow when fit ito cut ; the 

 flesh a full yellow but not very juicy ; 



4871. Choice of seed. In the cultivation of the 

 melon, Knight observes, it is a matter of much im- 

 portance to procure proper seed. Some gardeners are 

 so scrupulous on this point that they will not sow the 

 seeds unless they have seen and tasted the fruit from 

 which they were taken. It is proper at least not to 

 trust to seeds which have not been collected by judi- 

 cious persons. Some make it a rule to preserve always 

 the seeds of those individual specimens which are first 

 ripe, and even to take them from the ripest side of the 

 fruit. A criterion of the goodness and probable ferti- 

 lity is generally sought by throwing them into a vessel 

 containing water ; such as sink are considered as good 

 and likely to prove fertile, those that float, as effete. It is remarked of seeds brought 

 from the continent, that they must have more bottom heat, and the young plants less 

 water, than are necessary for seeds ripened in this country, or young plants sprung from 

 these. 



4872. For the entire course of culture of the melon, see Chap. VII. Sect. VII. 



Subsect. 5. Cucumber. — Cucumis sativus, L. Moncec. Monadelph. L. and Cucurbi- 

 tacece, J. Concombre, Fr. ; Gierke, Ger. ; and Citriuolo, Ital. 



4873. The cucumber is a tender annual, a native of the East Indies, and introduced 

 in 1573. It is a trailing and climbing plant, with large roundish rough leaves, furnish- 

 ed with tendrils, and if sown in the open air in May, produces flowers from July to 

 August. The cucumber is of nearly as great antiquity as the vine, for Moses, the 

 earliest Jewish author, mentions it as abounding in Egypt, when the children of Israel 

 were there, above three thousand years ago. (Numbers, chap, ii.) In England it is cul- 

 tivated generally and extensively, in forcing-frames and in the open air, and especially 

 near large cities and towns. " Not only gentlemen," as M'Phail observes, " but almost 

 every tradesman who has a garden and dung, have their cucumber-frame." In Hert- 

 fordshire, whole fields are annually seen covered with cucumbers without the aid of 

 dung or glass, and the produce of which is sent to the metropolis for pickling. In 

 March, cucumbers fetch in the London market a guinea a dozen ; in August and Sep- 

 tember one penny a dozen. The village of Sandy, in Bedfordshire, has been known to 

 furnish 10,000 bushels of pickling cucumbers in one week. 



4874. Use. The green fruit is used as a salad ; it is also salted when half-grown ; 

 and preserved in vinegar when young and small. In Germany and Poland, barrels of 

 half and also full grown cucumbers, are preserved from one year to the other, by immer- 

 sion in deep wells, where the uniform temperature and exclusion of air seem to be the 

 preserving agents. 



4875. Varieties. The principal of these are — 



The early longprickly ; from five to seven 

 inches long, of a green color, with 

 few prickles. The plant is a good 

 bearer ; and upon the whole, this is 

 accounted the best cucumber for the 

 general summer crop, the pulp being 

 very crisp and pleasant. 



Longest green prickly ; from seven to ten 

 inches in length ;' it has dark-green 

 skin, closelv set with small prickles. 

 This is a hardy sort, but does not come 

 carl v. 



Early short prickly ; not more than 

 four inches long ; the skin green, ra- 

 ther smooth, but with a few small 

 black prickles. This is one of the 

 hardiest and earliest sorts, and is often 

 preferred for the first crop. 



Dutch, or white short prickly, though 

 not much cultivated, is recommended 

 by some, as preferable even to the early- 

 long prickly ; it has fewer seeds ; is 

 evidently different in taste from most 



other cucumbers, but of agreeable fla- 

 vor. 

 Cluster cucumber ; a very early sort, the 

 flowers appear in clusters of three or 

 four together ; the fruit is seldom more 

 than five inches long ; ft is at first of a 

 fine green color, but becomes yellowish 

 as it ripens. The stems of this variety 

 are much inclined to climb by means 

 of their tendrils upon sticks ; the leaves 

 are small, and the plant altogether oc- 

 cupies but little room. 



