WATERMELON. 311 



WATERMELON. (Cucurbitus citrullus.) 



A native of Asia, and cultivated in all the warm and 

 temperate countries of Europe, Africa, and America. A 

 very large, round or oblong fruit, too well known in our 

 climate to need a particular description. 



USES. The watermelon is a very refreshing and whole- 

 some dessert fruit in the warm season : it mitigates thirst. 

 From the watermelon an excellent sweetmeat, called artifi- 

 cial citron, may be prepared as follows : 



American Citron. 



Pare the dark green from the outside, and scrape the soft 

 from the inside, of the melon ; cut it in different forms, and 

 boil it in alum water until clear ; throw it into spring water, 

 where it may remain two or three hours, changing the 

 water frequently. 



" To one pound of fruit, take two of sugar ; make a 

 sirup of half the quantity, and boil in it all the citron until 

 done, when it will be transparent. At the expiration of 

 two or three days, take the jelly from it, add the remaining 

 half of sugar, boil and pour it over the citron, which will 

 be ready for use. Season it with ginger ; sliced lemon is 

 preferable." 



The inspissated juice of the watermelon of the sweetest 

 kinds, affords a bright, light-colored sirup. A conserve 

 and marmalade is also prepared from the fruit. At Sarpa, 

 on the River Volga, says Pallas, they brew beer from the 

 juice. 



VARIETIES. 1. Long Carolina; 2. Round Carolina. 



CULTIVATION. The cultivation of the watermelon is in 

 all respects the same as the muskmelon. Innumerable 

 and nameless fine varieties continually appear. But the 

 same precautions are necessary to preserve the seed in its 

 purity, as are recommended for the musk-melon. They 

 require a highly-manured, rich, warm, and rather sandy 

 soil. 



