404 



THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



SWEET, or ANNUAL, MARJORAM 



Origanum Majorana, L. ; Majorana hortensis, Mcench. Labiate. 



French^ Marjolaine a coquille. German. Majoran. Flemish and Dutch, Marjolijn. 

 Italian^ Maggiorana. Spanish, Mejorana. Portuguese, Manjerona. 



Native of the East. Perennial, but grown in gardens as an 

 annual. A plant with an erect, square, branching stem. Leaves 



opposite, roundish, of a 

 grayish green colour; flowers 

 small, whitish, in rounded 

 clusters with spoon-shaped 

 bracts; seeds small, roundish 

 or slightly oblong, of a 

 more or less dark brown 

 colour. Their germinating 

 power lasts for three years. 

 CULTURE. The seed 

 may be sown at the end 

 of March or early in April. 

 The plant springs up 

 rapidly, so that the leaves 

 may commence to be 

 gathered in the course of 



fc-^25W^ May< The flowers a PP e ar 



-SgBH^^ 



about the end of June or 

 early in July. 



USES. The leaves and 

 the ends of the shoots are 



used for seasoning, for which they are highly esteemed, especially 



in the south of France. 



Sweet, or Annual, Marjoram (^ natural size; 

 detached branch, natural size). 



MELON 

 Cucumis Melo, L. Curcurbitace&. 



French, Melon. German, Melone. Flemish and Dutch, Meloen. Italian. Popone. 

 Spanish, Melon. Portuguese, Melao. 



Annual. A native of the warm parts of Asia, and cultivated 

 from a very remote period of antiquity, the Melon is not now 

 certainly known to exist in the wild state, but it is supposed that 

 the original or typical plant, if it is still to be found anywhere, 

 must have an oblong fruit like that of the Persian Melon. 



It is a plant with herbaceous, slender, flexible, almost cylindrical 

 stems, furnished with tendrils, by means of which they attach 

 themselves to surrounding objects, and climb when they meet with 

 a suitable support ; otherwise they creep along the ground. The 

 leaves, leaf-stalks, and stems are rough, with short thick hairs, 



