378 



HISTORY OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



of melons were received here direct from that 

 country. In 1 824, Mr Willock, the Ambassador 

 to the Court of Persia, sent a parcel of seed, and 

 another parcel in the spring of 182C. An ac- 

 count of ten varieties of these melons, by Mr 

 Lindley, was read before the Horticultural So- 

 ciety in September, 1826; and the individual 

 fruits referred to were the produce of the So- 

 ciety's garden that season. 



The Persian melons are extremely rich and 

 sweet; and instead of the thick rind of the common 

 melons, they have a very thin and delicate skin, 

 which makes a fruit of the same apparent size 

 contain nearly twice as much edible matter. In 

 addition to this, the melons are beautiful, and 

 they bear abundantly ; but they require a great 

 deal of care. In the warm climate of Persia, 

 the only attention which they ask from the cul- 

 tivator is to be regularly watered; and though 

 the melons may be supplied with water artifi- 

 cially, the air, in their native country, is still 

 very dry: this humid soil and dry atmosphere 

 are, as Mr Lindley remarks, very difficult to be 

 obtained in this country. The covering wliich 

 is requisite for confining the heat, confines also 

 the moisture raised by evaporation. It is fur- 

 ther judiciously observed in this paper, that the 

 supply of water should be at the roots, and not 

 over the plant; and that tlie air should be kept 

 warm by repeated changes of soil on the surface, 

 and dry by abundant ventillation. Some of the 

 melons, of which Mr Willock furnished the seed, 

 are ready for the table as soon as cut; and some 

 are winter melons, which must be kept ibr some 

 months before they are eaten. 



The Cucumeer, (cucumis sativa.) The cu- 

 cumber is an aimual plant, a native of the East 

 Indies; and was introduced into this country 

 about the year 1573. In England it is cultivated 

 generally and extensively in forcing frames, and 

 in the open air; and in great quantities near large 

 cities. In Hertfordshire, whole fields are annu- 

 ally seen covered with cucumbers, without the 

 aid of dung or glass; and the produce is sent to 

 London for pickling. In March cucumbers are 

 sold in the London market for a guinea a dozen; 

 in August and September they may be bought 

 for a penny per dozen. The village of Sandy, in 

 Bedfordshire, has been known to furnish 10,000 

 bushels of pickling cucumbers in one week. 



In the East the cucumber has been very ex- 

 tensively cultivated from the earliest periods, as 

 well as most of the other species of gourd. When 

 the Israelites complained to Moses in the wilder- 

 ness, comparing their old Egyptian luxuries with 

 the manna upon which they were fed, they ex- 

 claimed, "We remember the fish which we did 

 eat in Egypt freely, — the cucumbers and the 

 melons." Hasselquist, in his Travels, states that 

 these cooling fruits still form a great part of the 

 food of the lower class of the people in Ecjypt, 



especially during the summer months; and that 

 the water melon in particular, which is culti- 

 vated in the alluvial soil left by the inundation 

 of the Nile, serves them for meat, drink, and 

 physic. The cucumber of Syria was cultivated 

 in large open fields, in which a hut was ei-ected 

 for the abode of the watchman, who guarded the 

 fruit against foxes and jackals. These fields, 

 doubtless, were far away from the habitations of 

 men; for Isaiah, speaking of the desolation of 

 Judah, says, "The daughter of Zion is left as a 

 cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of 

 cucumbers." In India, beyond the Ganges, 

 bishop Heber saw a man in a small shed of bam- 

 boos and thatch, watching a field of cucumbers; 

 and he was naturally interested in the circum- 

 stance, as being the same custom to wliich Isaiah 

 alludes. He again observed a watcher of, cu- 

 cumbers, who lighted a fire during the night, to 

 keep off the wild dogs and wolves from his fruit. 

 On the west side of the Jordan, Burckhadt saw 

 fields of cucumbers. 



The cucumber has been known in England 

 from the very earliest records of horticulture. 

 Gough saj'S, that it was common, like the melon, 

 in the time of Edward III; but being neglected 

 and disused, became entirely forgotten, till the 

 reign of Henry VIII. It was not generally cul- 

 tivated till about the middle of the seventeenth 

 centuiy. There are many varieties of cucum- 

 bers. 



Some cucumbers are cultivated for their fan- 

 tastic shapes, of which the snaJce is remarkable 

 for its great length and small diameter; but it is 

 of no value, except for show. 



For raising cucumbers in the open air, a warm 

 border is chosen exposed to the sun. Dig up the 

 soft mould, and sow the seeds in the beginning 

 of June; and when the plants come up train the 

 shoots, and water them in dry weather in the 

 morning or evening, keeping the soil always 

 moist. The fruit will be ready in the end of 

 July or in August. 



Though cucumbei's are thus extensively used, 

 they are not esteemed a very safe article of food 

 by our dieticians. The late Mr Abernethy gave 

 a quaint receipt for their use, which was to peel 

 off the cucumber, slice it, pepper it, put vinegar 

 to it, and then throw it out at the window. 



Gourds, fcticurbita.J Of the gourd there are 

 many varieties, some of them of beautiful form 

 and colour, and others of an immense size. In 

 England, however, they are cultivated more as 

 matters of curiosity than for food. One sort, 

 the pumpkin (cucurlita pcpo,) is occasionally 

 eaten, but always in a baked state, and combined 

 with other substances of higher flavour. In 

 warm situations, and when highly manured, it 

 grows luxuriantly in the open air; and villagers 

 sometimes grow it, and, when lipe, convert it 

 into a sort of pie, by cutting a hole in the side, 



