MELON PUMPKIN. 



pared in a similar manner in the spring, 

 except that the hills are furrowed 5 feet apart, 

 and the same kind and quantity of manure 

 made use of. 



We generally commence planting about a 

 week later than we do cucumbers, but occa- 

 sionally at the same time, dropping from 20 to 

 80 seeds into a hill, and covering them about 

 an inch deep with fine soil. Eight or 10 days 

 after putting in the first seed we commence 

 planting over, which we seldom perform the 

 second time, unless by examination we find the 

 first seed about to fail. The seed of melons 

 is not so liable to rot as that of cucumbers, but 

 long storms are very apt to destroy the young 

 plants, and they will even produce great injury 

 when the plants have vined from off the hills. 

 In 1837, a succession of wet weather caused 

 the ends of the principal part of the melon- 

 vines in our vicinity to die as late as the 8th 

 of July; but mine fortunately did not suffer as 

 much as those of my neighbours. We culti- 

 vate the plants in the same manner as cucum- 

 bers, except that in hoeing it is generally ne- 

 cessary to remove a small portion of the soil 

 from between them, in consequence of their 

 being too short to admit of the young weeds 

 being covered without injury to the plants. 

 We gradually thin them down to 4 in a hill, 

 standing from 5 to 6 inches apart. The plants 

 are liable to the depredations of the same spe- 

 cies .if insects which prey upon cucumbers, 

 and they are destroyed in the same manner. 



Melon vines are in bearing from 5 to 6 

 weeks ; whenever a drought occurs, this period 

 is much less, for that of 1838 finished mine in 

 4 weeks. They often bear a second crop, 

 which answers for pickling, but I have known 

 this crop to come to perfection. 



When the fruit is ripe, it requires to be 

 gathered every day, otherwise there would be 

 large quantities lost in consequence of be- 

 coming too ripe and soft. When ripe, they 

 have a yellowish colour; but such as are 

 cracked around the stem and come off easily 

 from the vines, we always gather, for they will 

 be fit for eating by the next day, when sold in 

 the markets. 



To insure good crops, melons should notfce 

 planted two years in succession on the same 

 ground ; they require a rotation. Marshall, an 

 English writer, recommends the carrying of 

 cucumber and melon seeds a week or two in 

 the breeches pockets previous to planting, to 

 dry away some of the more watery particles: 

 were we believers of this doctrine, it would be 

 a difficult matter, and require large pockets or 

 a regiment of small ones to carry it into prac- 

 tice, since some of us, to secure our crops, 

 plant from 3 to 4 bushels of seed in a season. 



The following is the number of hills planted, 

 produce (large quantities of unsaleable ones 

 fed to the hogs excepted), and amount of sales 

 for the preceding 4 years : viz. 



Tear. Hills planted. Bushels sold. Amount received 



1835 - 6,664 1,133 $939 10 



l>3rt - 7,850 561 590 57 



1-37 - 8,011 990 913 56 



1838 - 7,590 823 713 9 



MELON PUMPKIN, or SQUASH (Cucur- 

 bita rnelopepo). See SQ.UASH. 



METEOROLOGY. 



MELON, WATER (Cucumis citrullus). A 



plant well known in the United States for its 



delicious and refreshing fruit. To acquire the 



greatest perfection it demands a warm and 



sandy soil, and this it finds in New Jersey, and 



more Southern States, where the water-melon 



is extensively cultivated. There are several 



varieties, such as the long and striped Caro- 



| Una, the more round and dark-skinned Spanish, 



j &c. In some parts of southern Russia, a kind 



of beer is brewed from their very abundant 



] and cheap water-melons, with the addition of 



hops: they also prepare a conserve or marmo- 



lade from this fruit, which is a good substitute 



for syrup or molasses. 



MENDING. A country term used to signify 

 the improving the quality or texture of land by 

 the application of manure. 



MERCURY (Mercurialis). These are re- 

 garded as mere weeds, possessing narcotic, 

 fetid, and dangerous qualities. 



MERINO SHEEP. See SHEEP. 



MESLIN. A term applied in New England 

 to the crop of peas and oats when sown to- 

 gether 



MESLIN-CORN. A term applied to wheat 

 and rye produced in a state of moisture. 



METEOROLOGY. The science of meteors, 

 or the science which explains the various phe- 

 nomena which have their origin in the atmo- 

 sphere. Under the term meteorology, it is now 

 usual to include not merely the observation of 

 the accidental phenomena to which the name 

 of meteor is applied, but every terrestrial as 

 well as atmospherical phenomenon, whether 

 accidental or permanent, depending on the ac- 

 tion of heat, light, electricity, and magnetism. 

 In this extended signification, meteorology 

 comprehends climatology, and the greater part 

 of physical geography; and its object is to de- 

 termine the diversified and incessantly chang- 

 ing influences of the four great agents of na- 

 ture now named, on land, in the sea, and in the 

 atmosphere. It is the object of meteorology to 

 investigate and discover the modes of opera- 

 tion, and the causes instrumental, as well as 

 final, of the multitude of interesting phenomena 

 which exercise an influence on the animal and 

 vegetable kingdoms. To this science belongs 

 the examination of the force of radiation from 

 the sun, or the temperature directly produced 

 by his beams ; the inquiry into the constitu- 

 tion, mechanical as well as chemical, of that 

 intimate intermixture of gaseous bodies which 

 is the subject of what are called atmospheric 

 changes ; the scrutiny of tke laws governing 

 the variations of climate: that also of those 

 which regulate the diminution of heat in the 

 atmosphere, in proportion to the altitude; the 

 developement of the principles determining the 

 quantity and state of the aqueous portion of the 

 atmosphere ; and the acquirement of know- 

 ledge, in short, on every subject of science 

 presented by the atmosphere itself, or by its 

 modes of relation to the aqueous and mineral 

 kingdoms, and the general laws of its influence 

 on organized matter. This branch of natural 

 history also comprehends the examination of 

 two great series of phenomena, not strictly 

 comprised by the foregoing enumeration; by 

 which, on the one side, its boundaries are 



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