158 VEGETABLE GARDENING. 



the best quality is desired, since this keeps them off the ground, 

 and they ripen more evenly in consequence. 



Varieties. Melons vary much in size, form, color of skin 

 and flesh and in quality. There are many kinds, but only a 

 few are referred to here. 



Christiana, or Early Christiana is a popular melon, 

 of extra good quality, with salmon colored flesh. 



Osage, or Miller's Cream. A large melon having firm 

 salmon colored flesh, very productive and highly esteemed for 

 the market and home garden. Perhaps, the best shipping sort 

 now grown. 



California Citron muskmelon is a variety especially 

 popular in some northern markets for home market and for 

 shipping. 



Emerald Gem is a very prolific melon, with small but very 

 superior fruit that is valuable for home use. 



WATERMELON. (CitruUis vulgaris. ) 



Native of Africa. — Annual. — A vine of the same general 

 habit as the muskmelon, but the leaves are deeply lobed, and 

 the whole plant is covered with soft, grayish hairs that give it 

 a grayish aspect. The flowers are the same in structure as 

 those of the cucumber or muskmelon. The seeds are large 

 but vary much in size, color and markings. The fruit varies 

 in color of skin from pale yellow to deep green and is often 

 mottled; the flesh varies from white to pink or yellow. Some 

 are tasteless and insipid, and others are sugary and refresh- 

 ing. The fruit often weighs as much as fifty pounds in good 

 seasons when grown in favorable locations, even in the ex- 

 treme Northern states. 



Culture. The method of culture is the same as for the 

 cucumber and muskmelon, with the exception that the vines 

 should not be pinched, and they require rather more room in 

 which to grow. They should be planted about eight feet apart 

 each way. 



Varieties. There are many kinds of watermelon offered by 

 seedsmen, differing from one another in many particulars. 

 Several of the most esteemed are the following: 



