250 GARDENING FOR THE SOUTH. 



eny of some moth, which crawls up from the ground, eat- 

 ing its "way into melons, squashes, cucumbers, etc., admit- 

 ting the air, and causing them to decay at once, and fill 

 the atmosphere about them with a most disagreeable and 

 sickening odor. I know no remedy ; but when the first 

 fruit is attacked, early in August here, the vines are 

 removed and other crops put in. 



To Save Seed. Select of each variety some of the 

 earliest and best melons ; wash the seed from the pulp, 

 dry them in the shade, and put away in paper bags. 

 They will keep ten years. Old seed is more prolific in 

 fruit than new. Be sure and plant the oldest seed to 

 be had, if it appears well preserved ; seeds will not be true 

 if the varieties are within one hundred feet of each other. 



Use. The melon as a palatable and luscious fruit, very 

 cooling in hot weather, maintains a high rank. It is usu- 

 ally eaten with salt alone, though many like the addition 

 of sugar and spices. That it is wholesome is proved by 

 its constant use while in season as an article of food 

 among the people of Southern Europe. The musk-melon 

 contains but a trifle more water than the beet, and is 

 quite as nourishing. It contains albumen, casein, dex- 

 trin and sugar, which, combined with citric, malic, and 

 tartaric acid, give its peculiar rich flavor. The green 

 fruit may be cooked like the egg-plant, and is also made 

 into mangoes. 



MUSHROOM. (Agaricus campestris.) 



"The mushroom," says Loudon, "is a well-known native 

 vegetable, springing up in open pastures in August and 

 September. It is most readily distinguished when of mid- 

 dle size, by its fine pink or flesh-colored gills and pleasant 

 smell. In a more advanced stage the gills become of a 



