148 THE AMERICAN GARDENER. [Chap. 



accomplish that object, you have only ID use the 

 game means, in every respect, that I have described 

 for the getting of early cucumbers. The soil should 

 be rich for melons ; but it ought not to be freshly 

 dunged ; for that is apt to rot the plants, especially 

 in a wet year. They like a light and rather sandy 

 soil, and, any where near the sea, wood ashes, or 

 sopers' ashes, is, probably, the best manure, and 

 especially in dry-bottomed land ; for ashes attract 

 and retain the moisture of the atmosphere. It is a 

 great mistake to suppose, that ashes are of a burn- 

 ing quality. They always produce the most and 

 best effect in dry bottomed land. Melons should be 

 cultivated well You should leave but one plant in 

 a hill; and should till the ground between the 

 plants, while they are growing, until it be covered 

 by the vines. If the plants stand too close, the 

 vines will be weak, and fruit small, thick-rinded, 

 and poor as to flavour. 



235. MINT. There are two sorts ; one is of a 

 darker green than the other : the former is called 

 pepper-mint, and is generally used for distilling' to 

 make mint water : the latter, which is called spear- 

 mint, is used for the table, in many ways. The 

 French snip a little into their salads ; we boil a 

 bunch amongst green peas, to which it gives a plea 

 sant flavour ; chopped up small, and put, along with 

 sugar, into vinegar, we use it as sauce for roasted 

 lamb ; and a very pleasant sauce it is. Mint may 

 be propagated from seed ; but. a few bits of its 

 roots will spread into a bed in a year. To have it 

 in winter, preserve it precisely like Marjoram (which 

 see,) and, instead of chopping it for sauce, crumble 

 it between your fingers. 



236. MUSTARD Thpre is a white seeded ?ort 

 and a brown seeded. The white mustard is used in 



