VARIETIES OF FORCING MELONS. 2IQ 



the very best, ripening ten days or two weeks after Blen- 

 heim Orange. 



Empress. A globular melon of rather small size, rib- 

 less, but marked with very coarse angular bars ; flesh 

 pale orange, of good quality, but occasionally inclined to 

 be somewhat acid. A pretty little melon, with curious 

 markings, ripening with Masterpiece. Less desirable than 

 Blenheim or Masterpiece. 



Monarch. A good-sized melon, with sparse markings, 

 except about the blossom end"; dull yellow in color, not 

 ribbed ; flesh described as thick and solid, red, of ex- 

 cellent flavor. Ripens with Masterpiece. Our stock of 

 this melon appears to have been mixed, and we have 

 also grown a cross with Lockinge. Because of its vari- 

 able character and somewhat unattractive appearance, we 

 prize it less than some other varieties ; but it is probable 

 that a pure stock would have given more satisfactory 

 results. From one stock we got green-fleshed fruits of 

 best quality. We do not know which is the true Monarch. 



Other varieties we have tested as follows : Sutton 

 A i, good size (a fruit picked January 26 weighed 2 Ibs. 

 3 ozs.), very prominently and beautifully barred, the flesh 

 orange, quality of the very best ; Perfection, slightly fur- 

 rowed and scarcely netted, green outside, the flesh green, 

 but good and rich, though not so musky and aromatic 

 as Masterpiece ; Sutton Scarlet, flesh red, of excellent 

 quality ; Imperial, a rather soft, green-fleshed melon, 

 but the best variety (in a lot of a dozen or more) 

 tested in the season of 1895-6 (best fruit weighed i Ib. 

 14 ozs.); Windsor Castle, large (specimen picked Janu- 

 ary 20 weighed 2 Ibs. 6 ozs), with no ridges or bars (oc- 

 casionally a vestige of bars), flesh green, quality fair to 

 good. Amongst our own crosses, Masterpiece X Lock- 

 inge is perhaps the best. It has a pale-red or sometimes 

 lemon-colored flesh, and is somewhat variable in quality, 

 but generally very excellent. A sample of this fruit was 

 sent to a connoisseur on the isth of January, who wrote 



