247 



for them in London, compared td that in 

 Paris, cannot be more than the proportion of 

 one to a thousand. 



I have observed, in other parts of this 

 work, that the French have particular places 

 where they cultivate peculiar fruits only : this 

 is the case with melons, and where they are 

 grown in such abundance as entirely to oc- 

 cupy the attention of whole villages, the 

 culture must necessarily be better understood 

 than in our gardens, where the same persons 

 have to cultivate every kind of fruit or vege- 

 table : the mind being thus divided between 

 so many varieties, that none can be so tho- 

 roughly understood. Another great disad- 

 vantage arises in the common mode of grow- 

 ing melons in this country ; that is, by plant- 

 ing them near to cucumbers, and sometimes 

 quite surrounded by them, and often by 

 gourds, which, it is well known, will, by 

 their incestuous intercourse, not only affect 

 the seeds for future plants, but change the 

 nature of the fruit, which has been pol- 

 luted by the farina of other species of the 

 cucurbitacecE. 



When a melon is perfectly fine, it is full 

 without any vacuity : this is known by knock- 

 ing upon it ; and, when cut, the flesh should 

 be dry, no water running out, only a little 



