KITCHEN GARDEN. 193 



to seed, which can only be effectually checked by 

 transplanting. The plants should stand at the dis- 

 tance of ten or twelve inches apart in the rows. 

 The curled sort, when the heads begin to spread, 

 should be tied up, and will then blanch finely; but it 

 must also be noticed that the effect of this compres- 

 sion is to hasten the progress of vegetation, and, of 

 course, to precipitate the seeding. 



All the varieties of the three series will grow well 

 in hotbeds, but the Romana species is preferred for 

 this culture, 1st, because it bears squeezing or 

 crowding the best, and, 2d, because, by throwing up 

 erect leaves, it occupies less room under the frames 

 than either of the other sorts. 



THE MELON (Cucumis Melo). This is one of the 

 many useful and delicious presents furnished by 

 Asia to the rest of the world. There are but two 

 species ; the melon with a rough or embroidered 

 coat, and that with a thin and smooth skin. The 

 first is called the musk, from its peculiar flavour, 

 and the other, from its thin and abundant juices, 

 the watermelon. Of each of these species there 

 are many varieties, differing in shape and size, and 

 in the colour of the rind and of the flesh. The most 

 approved of the muskmelon species are the cante- 

 lope, the citron, the nutmeg? and the Persian ; and 

 of the watermelon, the Carolina, the Maltese, the 

 Candia, and the Chat6 or Egyptian.* 



Both species and all the varieties succeed best 

 in a hot climate and sandy soil, and in these their 

 culture is easy and alike, and their product abun- 

 dant ; nor is it to be complained of here, where our 



* Prosper Alpin says that he has seen watermelons so large 

 in Egypt, that three or four formed the ordinary load of a cam- 

 el. Of this species there are seven known varieties, according 

 to Brisseau Mirbel. The Chate is one of these, and the Egyp- 

 tian mode of using it is to make a hole in the side, through 

 which, by means of a stick, they reduce the pulp to a liquid. 

 This is then poured into a cup and drank. 

 R 



