THE MELON. 



377 



highly probable that those ecclesiastics who paid 

 such attention to the other fruits gi-own in Italy 

 and France, would not neglect one so delicious 

 as the melon ; and it is distinctly said by a writer 

 on British Topography, Gough, that the culti- 

 vation of the melon in England preceded the 

 wars of York and Lancaster, but that it was de- 

 stroyed in the times of civil trouble that suc- 

 ceeded. It is probable, however, that the melon 

 was confounded with the pumpkin by the earlier 

 writers whom Gough consulted. While in 

 France, and in England, melons are grown as an 

 article of luxury, in some parts of the East they 

 are used as a chief necessary of life. Niebuhr, 

 the celebrated traveller, says, " of pumpkins and 

 melons, several sorts grow naturally in the woods, 

 and serve for feeding camels; but the proper 

 melons are planted in the fields, where a great 

 variety of them is to be found, and in such abun- 

 dance, that the Arabians of all ranks use them, 

 for some part of the year, as their principal article 

 of food. They afford a very agreeable liquor. 

 AVlien its fi-uit is nearly ripe, a hole is pierced 

 into the pulp ; this hole is then stopped with 

 wax, and the melon left upon the stalk. Within 

 a few days the pulp is, in consequence of this 

 process, converted into a delicious liquor." 



Although the melon is a very delicious fruit, 

 it is not one of the most wholesome, more espe- 

 cially in cold climates, where, if eaten in any 

 considerable quantity, it is apt to derange the 

 stomach, unless corrected by warm and stimu- 

 lating ingredients; and the same remark may be 

 applied to the cucumber. 



Small melons are, when equally ripe, more 

 highly ilavoured than large ones. In general, 

 however, the fruit is chosen as much for show- 

 as for use, and thus the large ones are preferred. 

 Indeed, in almost all the cultivated fruits and 

 vegetables, quality is very apt to he sacrificed to 

 appearance; as in the markets the articles are 

 bought by the judgment of the eye, and not by 

 that of the palate. To obtain the large size, a 

 ranker manuring and higher culture must be 

 resorted to than are altogether consistent with 

 the natural development of the juices of the 

 plant. 



Of the melon there are many varieties, and 

 the number of them is constantly increasing. 

 Seventy-one are enumerated in the Fruit Cata- 

 logue of the Horticultural Society. The Can- 

 taloupe is one of the best. It obtains its name 

 from a seat belonging to the Pope, not, far from 

 Rome, where it was probably firsi cultivated in 

 Europe, and whence it has spread into most 

 countries. The Cantaloupe is of a middling size, 

 nearly round in form, and remarkably rough and 

 irregular in the surface. The colours, both of 

 the surface and the flesh, vary ; the former from 

 orange mottled with green, to green mottled with 

 black ; and the latter from white, or nearly eo, 



to orange tinged with rose colour. The flesh of 

 some var-ieties is greenish ; hut these are inferior 

 to the others. When melons of this sort are 

 equally ripened, it may be considered as a gen- 

 eral rule, that those which are darkest on the 

 outside, most richly tinted in the flesh, aud of a 

 moderate size, have the most high and musky 

 flavour. 



There is also a small African or Egyptian melon, 

 the flesh of which is green, of a particular ex- 

 cellence. Frederick the Great was passionately 

 fond of these melons; and Zimmerman, who at- 

 tended him in his last illness, finding him very 

 ill from indigestion, discovered that he ate three 

 or four of them daily for breakfast. On remon- 

 strating with the king, the only answer that the 

 physician could get was, that the king would 

 send him some of the fruit to taste the next day, 

 as if its excellence would be a sufficient apology 

 for the habitual indiscretion. 



The Romana is also a fine lemon; and it ripens 

 earlier than the Cantaloupe. The surface is often 

 netted. It is of an oval shape, highly flavoured, 

 and when good, very heavy and solid. 



The Salonica, which has bee;x but recently in- 

 troduced into this country, is a beautiful melon. 

 It is spherical, smooth, and of a fine golden colour. 

 The flesh is white, very sweet, and in consistency 

 resembling the water melon. The Salonica pre- 

 serves its qualities, though it is very large ; and 

 with good culture specimens may be had weigh- 

 ing seven or eight pounds. 



The small Portugal is a very early and prodxic- 

 tive melon, but not remarkable for flavour. The 

 rock melons are thickly set with knobs; they are 

 of various colours, and some of them or very 

 fine flavour. The oblong-riljbed is marked into 

 segments from the root to the crown; it is v«y 

 productive; and the flavour is so high, tli^c it is 

 sometimes called, by way of eminencj the musk 

 melon. 



The melon in this climate, 'o ^e raised to per- 

 fection, requires the aid of artificial heat and 

 glass throughout eve-^y stage of its culture. Its 

 minimum tempr-ature may be estimated at 05°, 

 in which it "lU germinate and grow; but it re- 

 quires a heat of from 75° to 80° to ripen its 

 fruit, which, in ordinary cases, it does in four 

 months from the time of sowing the seeds. A 

 rich mould of vegetable extract, with sand, is 

 the most suitable soil. 



The melons of Persia have long borne a hin-h 

 character. " Persia," says Malte Brun, writing 

 after Chardin, Oliver, and Langles, " is consoled 

 for the occasional failure of her grain crop hy 

 the fineness of her fruits. There are twenty 

 sorts of melons, the finest in Khorassan. In 

 Persia, this fruit is extremely succulent, and 

 contributes greatly to health. They are some- 

 times so large, that three or four are a full load 

 for a man." It was not till lately that the seeds 

 3 B 



