^ 66 The ordering of the Kitchen Garden. 



good, that you may haue the feede of your owne ripe Melons from them that haue 

 eaten them, or faue fome of the beft your felfe for the purpofe. I fay while they laft 

 good ; for many are of opinion, that no feede of Muske Melons gathered in England, 

 will endure good to fowe againe here aboue the third yeare, but ftill they muft be re- 

 newed from whence you had your choifeft before. Then hauing prepared a hot bed 

 of dung in Aprill, fet your feedes therein to raife them vp, and couer them, and order 

 them with as great care or greater then Cowcumbers, &c. are vfed, that when they are 

 ready, they may be tranfplanted vpon the beds or balkes of that ground you had be- 

 fore prepared for them, and fet them at the leaft two yards in funder, euery one as it 

 were in a hole, with a circle of dung about them, which vpon the fetting being wate- 

 red with water that hath ftood in the Sunne a day or two, and fo as often as neede is to 

 water, couer them with ftrawe (fome vfe great hollow glafles like vnto bell heads) or 

 fome fuch other things, to defend them both from the cold euenings or dayes, and the 

 heate of the Sunne, while they are young and new planted. There are fome that take 

 vpon them great skill, that miflike of the railing vp of Melons, as they doe alfo of 

 Cowcumbers, on a hot bed of horfe dung, but will put two or three feedes in a place 

 in the very ground where they fhall (land and growe, and thinke without that former 

 manner of forcing them forwards, that this their manner of planting will bring them 

 on faft and fure enough, in that they will plucke away fome of the worft and weakeft, 

 if too many rife vp together in a place ; but let them know for certaine, that howfoeuer 

 for Cowcumbers their purpofe and order may doe reasonable well, where the ground 

 is rich and good, and where they ftriue not to haue them fo early, as they that vfe the 

 other way, for Muske Melons, which are a more tender fruit, requiring greater care 

 and trouble in the nourfing, and greater and ftronger heate for the ripening, they muft 

 in our cold climate haue all the art vfed vnto them that may be, to bring them on the 

 more early, and haue the more comfort of the Sunne to ripen them kindly, or elfe they 

 will not bee worth the labour and ground. After you haue planted them as aforefaid, 

 fome of good skill doe aduife, that you be carefull in any dry feafon, to giue them wa- 

 ter twice or thrice euery weeke while they are young, but more afterward when they 

 are more growne, and that in the morning efpecially, yea and when the fruit is growne 

 fomewhat great, to water the fruit it felfe with a watering pot in the heate of the day, 

 is of fo good effecl:, that it ripeneth them much fafter, and will giue them the better 

 tafte and fmell, as they fay. To take likewife the fruit, and gather it at the full time of his 

 ripenefle is no fmall art ; for if it be gathered before his due time to be prefently eaten, 

 it will be hard and greene, and not eate kindly ; and likewife if it be fuffered too long, 

 the whole goodnefle will be loft : You fhall therefore know, that it is full time to ga- 

 ther them to fpend prefently, when they begin to looke a little yellowifh on the out- 

 fide, and doe fmell full and ftrong ; but if you be to fend them farre off, or keepe them 

 long vpon any occafion, you fhall then gather them fo much the earlier, that accor- 

 ding to the time of the carriage and fpending, they may ripen in the lying, being kept 

 dry, and couered with woollen clothes: When you cut one to eate, you (hall know 

 it to be ripe and good, if the feede and pulpe about them in the middle be very wate- 

 ri(h, and will eafily be Separated from the meate, and likewife if the meate looke yel- 

 low, and be mellow, and not hard or greene, and tafte full and pleafant, and not wate- 

 rifh : The vfuall manner to eate them is with pepper and fait, being pared and diced, 

 and to drowne them in wine, for feare of doing more harme. Cowcumbers and Pom- 

 pions, after they are nourfed vp in the bed of hot dung, are to be feuerally tranfplanted, 

 each of them on a large plot of ground, a good diftance in funder : but the Pompions 

 more, becaufe their branches take vp a great deale more ground, & befides, will require 

 a great deale more watering, becaufe the fruit is greater. And thus haue you the orde- 

 ring of thofe fruits which are of much efteeme, efpecially the two former, with all the 

 better fort of perfons ; and the third kinde is not wholly refufed of any, although it 

 ferueth moft vfually for the meaner and poorer fort of people, after the firft early ripe 

 are fpent. 



CHAP. 



