1050 



MUSKMELON 



Two important strains of the netted melon type which 

 have come into great prominence in recent years are the 

 Osage, developed in southwestern Michigan, and the 

 Rocky Ford, developed in Colorado. Another important 

 strain of the same class is the Montreal Market, which has 

 developed in Canada. These three melons are grown on 

 a very large scale for the market, and there are middle- 

 men who now make a specialty of the melon crop in its 

 season. 



Some of the forms of the Muskmelon species are very 

 unlike the ordinary Muskmelons. Some of them are 

 scarcely edible in their raw state, 'but are used for 



1443. The Orange or Chito Melon Cucumis Melo. var. Chito. 



pickles and conserves. Of these are the so-called Snake 

 Cucumber (Plate XIX) and the Orange or Chito melon 

 (Pig. 1448). The latter has been much advertised in 

 recent years as a preserving or mango melon (for mak- 

 ing mangoes " or mixed pickles). It is a small-leaved 

 slender vine as compared with the common Muskmelon, 

 and it bears an abundance of yellow or orange fruits the 

 size of a hen's egg or lemon. It requires no special 

 culture. The Snake Cucumber is grown mostly as a 

 curiosity in this country, but it may be used for pickles 

 and preserves. 



Another type of Muskmelon is the winter melon. 

 These are described as follows in an Experiment Sta- 

 tion publication (Bailey, Bull. 95, Cornell Exp. Sta.) : 



"There is an interesting class of melons, little known 

 in this country, which gives fruits of long-keeping 

 qualities. These are known as the winter or scentless 

 melons. They are mostly of an oblong shape, with 

 green or grayish hard rinds and commonly a white or 

 green flesh, which often lacks almost entirely the char- 

 acteristic aroma of the Muskmelon. The leaves are 

 generally longer and greener than those of the common 

 melons. The fruits are picked just before frost, when 

 they appear to be as inedible as squashes, and are stored 

 in a fruit-room to ripen. The true winter melons re- 

 quire a long season. We have planted them upon good 

 soil on the first day of June, and they have barely come 

 to maturity before frost. There is little difficulty in 

 keeping some of the varieties until Christmas, if they 

 do not get too ripe in the field, if the fruits are not al- 

 lowed to become frost-bitten, and if the room is cool 

 and rather dry. 



"There are two general types amongst the winter 

 melons which we have grown. One type has a solid 

 interior, like a cucumber, and the seed's are imbedded 

 firmly in the structure of the fruit. The other class 

 has a soft interior and the loose seeds of ordinary mel- 

 ons. To the first class belongs the Winter Pineapple, 

 a variety which seems to me to be indistinguishable 

 from the Green-fleshed Maltese melon (Melon de Malte 



MUSKMELON 



d' 1 Hiver & chair verte) of the French. It is variable 

 in shape and size, but is commonly pyriforru and clear 

 yellowish green, with a green inodorous flesh of fair 

 quality for its class. 



"There are a number of good varieties in the second, 

 or loose-seeded class. The one which we have liked 

 best is the French Winter Climbing Nutmeg (Melon 

 Brode vert grimpant) . It has a sweet and good green 

 flesh. The seeds are very small. The fruit is small, 

 ribbed and very dark green with yellow furrows. It 

 keeps well until December. Another good melon is the 

 White Antibes of the French (Melon Brode d' Antibes 

 blanc d' Hiver d chair verte). 

 It is an egg-shaped melon of 

 good size, bright green un- 

 til full maturity, and hard 

 shelled. It is a very long 

 keeper. The Redfleshed Mal- 

 tese melon excels other mel- 

 ons of this class in quality, 

 the flesh being aromatic and 

 rich, but is not so good a 

 keeper as the green-fleshed 

 sorts. 



"In. general, these winter 

 melons are worth growing for 

 home use. The quality is not 

 so good as that of the summer 

 melons, but this defect is 

 over balanced by their long- 

 keeping qualities. Amongst 

 prominent varieties are the 

 Winter Climbing Nutmeg, the 

 White Antibes and perhaps 

 the Winter Pineapple. These 

 melons are also useful for the 

 making of conserves." 



For other melon types and 

 for a sketch of the botany of 

 them, see the article in Vol. I 

 on Cucumis. L H. B. 



The Muskmelon, a fruit of 

 much commercial value, is 



grown in different localities under varied methods. 

 Where they are grown in largest quantities, as in the 

 South, the simplest methods are employed. There the 

 seed is dropped in hills of well-enriched soil, three to 

 five to each hill, and covered with about 2 in. of soil; 

 when there is danger of chilly weather after planting, 

 they are covered with litter or straw until the soil and 

 temperature become warm. Among private, gardeners 

 throughout the country, and where climate and soil will 

 admit, melon-growing is followed with a great deal of 

 care and trouble, mainly because the area which they 

 require to produce a fair percentage of good fruit can- 

 not be allotted them, and consequently close care and 

 best cultivation are required. The first thing is to pro- 

 vide a frame or pit, in which, after a slight hotbed has 

 been made, and upon which the soil to the thickness of 

 about 2 in. has been placed, the sash will be only 12 in. 

 from the soil. Then place pieces of evenly cut sod 2 

 in. thick by 4 in. square, with the grass side down, on 

 the soil, laying them close together, the edges touch- 

 ing, and with a sharp-pointed trowel dig out the.center 

 of each piece of sod, barely penetrating through, and 

 fill up the space dug out with good soil, somewhat 

 sandy. In each of these places drop two seeds, either 

 of Musk- or Watermelon ; keep slightly moist and also 

 well protected during night and cool days and when 

 there is no sunshine. After they start special care 

 must be exercised to keep them growing, but not too 

 fast, as the roots will penetrate the sod, and the plants 

 will wilt when transferred to the open ground. The 

 matter of ventilating and other care is easily given, and 

 they can be transferred at will when the weather per- 

 mits, as they will bear the transplanting without being 

 injured. The transferring must be done by taking out 

 each piece of sod with a trowel and setting in the open 

 ground where wanted, making the hills of Watermelons 

 6 ft. apart each way and the Muskmelons 3 ft. in the 

 rows and 6 ft. between the rows. 



Another excellent operation employed by gardeners 

 for the quick growing and full development of the finest 



