THE MELON. 217 



crack, and their ripening can therefore only be known by 

 their size and scent : indeed, it is acknowledged that in 

 general it is rather difficult to discriminate the last stage 

 of maturity, and that only experience can enable any one 

 to determine with certainty the exact moment when a 

 melon has reached, yet not passed, its perfection. 



Such experience is sometimes much valued, an anec- 

 dote in proof of which is related of a certain monastery 

 into whose fraternity no one was admitted who could not, 

 by some special qualification, minister to the enjoyment 

 of the rest of the community. A visitor staying there for 

 a few days was so struck with the stolid demeanour and 

 seeming utter stupidity of one of the monks, that he could 

 not refrain from hinting to the prior his surprise at find- 

 ing that such a one was allowed a place to which, accord- 

 ing to the rumoured bye-laws of the society, he seemed 

 so little entitled, when his doubts were at once dissipated 

 by the satisfactory rely " Oh, he is not without his talent: 

 he is a capital judge of melons !" 



When perfectly fine, a melon should have no vacuity 

 a fact ascertainable by the sound given forth on gently 

 knocking the exterior ; and when cut the juice should not 

 run forth in a stream, but only gently exude to gem the 

 flesh with dew-like drops of moisture. Small melons, too, 

 are generally better than large ones, as the treatment 

 which fosters increase of size tends also to impair flavour ; 

 and the bulky giants of the race, produced by excessive 

 manuring, are, therefore, rejected by good judges, who 

 desire rather to gratify the palate than to please the eye. 

 The fruit should always be cut from the plant in the 

 morning, and the majority of the finer sorts should be 

 eaten the day they are gathered, though, if cut a day or 

 two before they are ripe, they may be kept for a week in 

 a cool dark room, and some sorts will even keep for weeks 

 under these conditions ; for light has a great influence in 

 facilitating the chemical changes on which maturation 

 depends, and its deprivation, therefore, tends much to 

 retard decay. They should also not be laid down, but 

 suspended in nets, so as to avoid pressure on the surface. 

 The careful and expensive method of culture required in 



