CHAPTER XXIV. 

 MELONS, 



The Cantaloup or Muskmelon. Cucumis melo, 



French, melon ; German, melone ; Dutch, meloeri ; Italian, 

 popone; Spanish, melon; Portuguese, melao. 



The Watermelon. Citrullus vulgaris. 



French, melon d'eau; German, wasser-melone ; Italian, 

 cocomero ; Spanish, sandia ; Portuguese, melamia. 



From the manner in which they are eaten melons should 

 be classed with fruits ; from the manner in which they are 

 grown they are more closely related to vegetables. Their 

 nearest botanical relatives, also, are of the vegetable class. 

 They evidently cannot be excluded from this work be- 

 cause of their aspiration to rank with the fruits. 



California is characteristically great for melons; not 

 only for their great size and excellence, but for the long 

 season during which they are available for table use. 

 Their delight in interior heat, their tolerance of drought, 

 their immense size, when both heat and moisture combine 

 for their advancement, constitute exceptional adaptations 

 for semi-tropical climates, in which they have been famous 

 from the earliest times. California answers their needs to 

 the fullest degree, and they have naturally attained great 

 local esteem and popularity. Recently the California can- 

 taloup has figured largely in the overland trade. 



THE MUSKMELON. 



In the United States the terms "muskmelon" and "can- 

 taloup" are interchangeable, and in California cantaloup 

 is given the preference. Of the many types of cantaloups 

 which have been defined by students of melon classifica- 

 tion a single one, known as the Rocky Ford, from the 

 place of its large commercial development in Colorado, 



