208 FRUIT CULTURE UNDER GLASS. 



The varieties ofmelons that have been and are now in 

 cultivation may be said to be almost innumerable. So 

 exceedingly simple and certain — indeed so difficult of 

 prevention where more than one variety are cultivated 

 in the same garden — is their hybridisation, that every 

 season is productive of fresh varieties in the majority of 

 gardens. There are, however, three distinct types, 

 which are known as the scarlet-fleshed, the varieties of 

 which have sprung from the more hardy Cantaloupe ; 

 the green-fleshed, from the Egyptian green-fleshed ; and 

 the white-fleshed, from the more tender Persian varie- 

 ties. The green-fleshed are the least attractive in 

 appearance, but are generally the best flavoured in this 

 country. The scarlets have of late years had some 

 excellent additions to their lists. Some of the white- 

 fleshed are thin-skinned, finely flavoured, and hand- 

 some ; but to bring them to perfection requires more 

 heat, and especially intense sunshine, than this country 

 affords. According to the statements of travellers, there 

 are melons in Bokhara and Turkestan which far surpass 

 any cultivated in this country. But probably the in- 

 tense sun and aridity of the atmosphere, with the atten- 

 tion paid to supply them liberally with water, may 

 have more to do with their lusciousness and flavour 

 than mere varieties; and they are, besides, more exquis- 

 itely relished in these hot dry countries than in this 

 comparatively cold and sunless latitude, where they can 

 only be cultivated under glass, aided with artificial heat 

 both in the soil and air. 



The chief improvement which has been effected in 

 melon-culture during this generation may be said to 

 consist in their being more generally cultivated in mel- 

 on-houses, trained near the glass on wire trellises ; and 



