SOME OTHER TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL FRUITS. 225 



222. The Melons. The history of the rnuskmelon and 

 watermelon is obscure. It is probable that De Candolle 

 is right in his conclusion that they were originally native 

 to Africa, both north and south of the equator. But in 

 prehistoric times they spread into central Asia and were 

 developed to fully their present perfection ages before 

 America was discovered. 



In 1882 the writer was astonished by the size and quality 

 of these fruits brought up the Volga on barges from the Cas- 

 pian, but grown in part on the lower Volga, but largely 

 in Persia and Turkestan. In 1898 Professor N. E. Hansen 

 was still more surprised by the size and perfection of 

 melons of Russian Turkestan. Of muskmelons he says: 

 " Upon reaching Transcaucasia, north of Armenia, between 

 the Black and Caspian seas, extra large muskmelons were 

 observed, especially in the region near Mount Ararat. 

 But it was not until the cotton-growing sections east of 

 the Caspian Sea, in Turcomania, Bokhara, Amu Daria, 

 Samarkand, and Tashkend, all in Russian Turkestan, just 

 north of Persia and Afghanistan and west of China, were 

 reached that the climax in size of muskmelons was 

 observed. Ordinary specimens of many varieties weighed 

 fully thirty pounds, as purchased in the bazars, and 

 government officials informed me that select specimens 

 often weighed over one Russian pood (equals thirty-six 

 pounds avoirdupois) each. 



" Some varieties do not ripen on the vines, but are hung 

 up in slings in the houses close to the ceiling and ripen 

 through the winter and spring." 



The watermelons of the far East are equally variable in 

 size and season. As to season they include the earliest 

 known, and they also include varieties with a thin, hard 

 shell that keep well through winter. 



