Cultural Directions. 215 



The chief difficulty for the novice is to tell when the melons 

 are fit for market or consumption, as they should not be picked 

 too soon, nor left on the vines after the proper stage of maturity 

 has been reached. The tendril or curl on the vine opposite the 



melon generally dries up and dies just about at the time when 

 the melon ripens ; but this is not always the case, and hence the 

 sign is not infallible. A safer indication even than this is the 

 turning of the whitish underside of the fruit (where it rests upon 





the ground) to a sort of cream color. Experienced growers and 

 dealers simply snap the melon with the middle finger, and tell the 

 ripe from the immature melon by the difference of sound. The 

 skin of the melon also becomes somewhat duller in color when 



