764 



PRACTICE OF GARDENING. 



Part III. 



The montagu cajitaleupe, is a variety pro- 

 duced from the two last-named sorts; 

 intermediate in size between them ; 

 greenish-white without ; the flesh an 

 mch and a half in thickness, not verj- 

 high colored, but soft and juicy, com- 

 pletly melting in the mouth, and with 

 a very sweet and delicate flavor. {Hort. 

 Trans, iv. 120.) 



The green-fleshed Ionian cantaleupe. Le- 

 mon-colored and lemon-shaped ; large, 

 thin-skinned, no great bearer, and does 

 not readily mature seeds, but of excel- 

 lent flavor. (Caled. Meyn- iv. 210.) 



Thegreen-fleshed Egyptian melon. Mid- 

 dle-sized, round, iietted; inhabits and 

 flavor reserribling the last-named va- 

 riety. (Caled. Mem. iv. 210.) 



Lee's romana. Middle sized, longish ; 

 shallow-furrowed, solid, and ponder- 

 ous. Rind hard, partly netted, and 

 pale-yellow ; flesh a full yellow, pretty 

 high-flavored, but not very juicy. 

 Plant a good bearer. 



The large netted romana. The largest 

 of the romanas, regularly netted all 

 over, shallow-furrowed, oval, solid, 

 and very ponderous, often attains to 

 nine or ten pounds in weight. Rind 

 hard, pale-yellow when fit to cut ; the 

 flesh a full yellow but not very juicy ; 



very high-flavored, if eaten sharp-ripe. 

 The plant is a better bearer than any 

 other large sort. 



Fair's romana. Small, oval, smooth, 

 solid and ponderous ; the rind hard, 

 greenish-yellow when fit to cut; and 

 the fle=h a pale yellow, not vei-y juicy ; 

 well-flavored and agreeable; may be 

 pared very near to the rind. The plant 

 is a very great bearer. 



The poUgnac. A rich-flavored middle- 

 sized oval fr\ut, in frequent cultivation. 



The small Portugal, or dormer, noted 

 as a good bearer, and a very early 

 variety. 



The black Portugal, or Galloway. A sub- 

 variety of the former. 



The saionica. Nearly spherical, and 

 without any depressions on its surface ; 

 color that "of gold, pulp, pure white; 

 improves in flavor and richness till it 

 becomes quite soft ; consistence of its 

 pulp is nearly that of a water-melon, 

 and it is very sweet A full-grown 

 specimen of the fruit generally weighs 

 about 71b. [Knight, h\ Hci. trani.'ii.) 



The dampsha melon. A variety from 

 Persia ; nearly cylindrical and netted ; 

 color varying from pale and yellowish- 

 green to dark-olive: flesh bright and 



deep green near the skin ; pale to- 

 wards the centre, quite melting, and 

 of excellent flavor ; hung up by .the 

 stalk, or in nets in a dark room", it 

 keeps until the w-inter months. {Old- 

 acre, in Hort. Trans, iv. 212.) 



The sweet melon of I spahan. Fruit ovate, 

 varies in length from eight to twelve 

 inches ; nearly quite smooth, of a deep 

 sulphur-color; skin ver>- thin, flesh 

 white, extending about half way to the 

 centre ; crisp, sugarv, and rich in taste. 

 [Hort. Trans, iii. p. "117.) 



The Levant melon. Oval, slightly lobed, 

 green-fleshed, milky, sweet and high- 

 flavored. [Hoii. Trans iv. 514.) 



The winter melon, [fig. 50S.) Cultivated 

 in various countries bordering on the 

 Mediterranean sea, and particularlv in 

 the orange gardens atHieres, in Toulon, 

 whence its friiit is sent to Paris. Skin 

 thin, flesh -white, firm, saccharine, and 

 juicy ; not rich, but pleasant. The 

 shape oval ; size, about a foot long, and 

 eight inches broad; color adark green. 

 This fruit is regularly imported, and 

 may be had in the fruit shojjs from 

 September to January. [Hort. Traju. 

 iii. p. U 6.) 



The water-mel»iu Cucurbila. (See ■1209.N 



4871. Choice of seed. In the cultivation of the 

 melon, Knight observes, it is a matter of much im- 

 portance to procure proper seed. Some gardeners are 

 so scrupulous on this point that they will not sow the 

 seeds unless they have seen and tasted the fruit from 

 which they were taken. It is proper at least not to 

 trust to seeds which have not been collected by judi- 

 cious persons. Some make it a rule to preserve always 

 the seeds of those individual specimens which are first 

 ripe, and even to take them from the ripest side of the 

 fruit. A criterion of the goodness and probable ferti- 

 lity is generally sought by throwing them into a vessel 

 containing water ; such as sink are considered as good 

 and likely to prove fertile, those that float, as effete. 



from the continent, that tliey must have more bottom heat, and the young plants less 

 water, than are necessary for seeds ripened in this country, or young plants sprung from 

 these. 



4872. For the entire course of culture of the melon, see Chap. VII. Sect. VII. 



It is remarked of seeds brought 



SuBSECT. 5. Cucumber. — Cucum'is sativus, L. Moncec. Monadelph. L. and Cucurbi- 

 tacets, J. Conco}nbre, Fr. ; Gurke, Ger. ; and Citriuolo, Ital. 



4873. The cucumber is a tender annual, a native of the East Indies, and introduced 

 in 1573. It is a trailing and climbing plant, with large roundish rough leaves, furnish- 

 ed with tendrils, and if sown in the open air in INIay, produces flowers from July to 

 August. Tlie cucumber is of nearly as great antiquity as the vine, for Moses, the 

 earliest Jewish author, mentions it as abounding in Egypt, when the children of Israel 

 were there, above three thousand years ago. (Nujnbet^s, chap, ii.) In England it is cul- 

 tivated generally and extensively, in forcing-frames and in the open air, and especially 

 near large cities and towns. " Not only gentlemen," as M'Phail observes, " but almost 

 every tradesman who has a garden and dung, have their cucumber-frame." In Hert- 

 fordshire, whole fields are annually seen covered with cucumbers without the aid of 

 dung or glass, and the produce of which is sent to the metropolis for pickling. In 

 March, cucumbers fetch in the London market a guinea a dozen ; in August and Sep- 

 tember one penny a dozen. The village of Sandy, in Bedfordshire, has been known to 

 furnish 10,000 bushels of pickling cucumbers in one week. 



4874. Use. The green fruit is used as a salad ; it is also salted when half-grown ; 

 and preserved in vinegar when young and small. In Germany and Poland, barrels of 

 half and also full grown cucumbers, are preserved from one year to the other, by immer- 

 sion in deep wells, where the uniform temperature and exclusion of air seem to be the 

 preserving agents. 



4875. Varieties. The principal of these are — 



The early long prickly; from five to seven i 

 inches long, of a green color, with 



few prickles. The plant is a good I 



bearer ; and upon the whole, this is I 



accounted the best cucumber for the | 

 general summer crop, the pulp being 



very crisp and pleasant. | 



Longest green prickly ; from seven to ten i 



inches in length; it has dark-green ! 



skin, closely set with small prickles. | 



This is a hardy sort, but does not come | 



early. I 



Early short prickly; not more than 

 four inches long ; the skin green, ra- 

 ther smooth, but with a few small 

 black prickles. This is one of the 

 hardiest and earliest sorts, and is often 

 preferred for the first crop. 



Dutch, or white short prickly, though 

 not much cultivated, is recommended 

 by some, as preferable even to the early 

 long prickly ; it has fewer seeds ; is 

 evidently different in taste from most 



other cucumbers, but of agreeable fla- 

 vor. 



Cluster cucumber ; a very early sort, the 

 flowers appear in clusters of three or 

 four together ; the fruit is seldom more 

 than five inches long ; it is at first of a 

 fine green color, but becomes yellowish 

 as it ripens. The stems of this variety 

 are much inclined- to climb 'oy means 

 of their tendrils upon sticks ; the leaves 

 are small, and the plant altogether oc- 

 cupies but little room. 



