CHAPTER VIII. 



MELONS. 



CuGumis melo. 



The Musk Melon is well known and is in veiy 

 i^uneral cultivation in all the thickly settled parts of 

 (jiir country. Wherever the best varieties are grown 

 a more extended culture of them is sure to follow. 

 Witli a climate and soil so well adapted to the growth 

 ()f Melons of a fine quality, it is an easy matter, for 

 any one who owns or cultivates a piece of ground, to 

 have, in their season, an abundant supply of this 

 fruit. 



There is a good demand for Melons in all large 

 towns or cities, and hundreds of acres of the light 

 soils of New Jersey and Long Island are devoted to 

 the growth of this crop for New York markets. 



Wlien grown as a field crop. Melons seldom pay 

 a pi-ofit of more than from seventy-five to one hundred 

 dollars per acre. But the expense of growing is much 

 less tlian that of other garden crops, and as thej carry 

 well long distances, they are usually grown on land too 

 j;oor for legitimate market gardening. Within the past 

 few years, gardeners or farmers around Norf ( ilk, Va., 

 and in the State of Delaware, have grown Melons on 

 a large scale and shipped them to Northern markets, 



