CUCUMIS MELO, Linn.' 



iTide Plate L.] 



Description. 



Origin. 



Varieties. 



English, melon; Vernaculae, kharbuza. 



Natural order CucurhitacecB, tribe Cucumerinece. An annual, whole plant rough with hispid 

 hairs. Stems creeping, scabrid and obscurely angled when young, becommg nearly round and 

 smooth ; tendrils simple, long and slender. Leaves about 3 in. across, puckered, orbicular reniform, 

 or 3-7 lobed, the lobes rounded and coarsely denticulate, upper surface blueish green, light green 

 below ; veins forming a prominent network beneath ; petiole 1^-3 in., angular, sulcate. Flowers 

 in fascicles, shortly stalked, yellow, monoecious. Male flower : — calyx tube campanulate or sub- 

 cylindrical, villous ; teeth 5, shorter than the tube, erect or spreading ; corolla greenish at the base 

 and densely hairy within the tube ; limb 5-parted, divisions ovate acute, extending about half way to 

 the tube ; stamens 3, filaments short, glabrous, anthers free, one 1-celled, two 2-celled, connective 

 forming a terminal crest ; lobes flexuose. Female flower : — calyx and corolla as in the male ; style 

 short, stigmas 3, obtuse ; ovary pubescent. Fruit very variable in shape, spherical, ovoid, elongated, 

 or contorted, downy or glabrous, never prickly ; flesh usually sweetish. Seeds nearly ^ in. long, 

 oblong, compressed, without a margin. 



The conclusions arrived at by M. A. Decandolle in his recently published work on 

 the origin of cultivated plants indicate N.-W. India, Beluchistan and perhaps W. Tropi- 

 cal Africa as the countries in which this species has existed in a wild state. 



The varieties of this species are very numerous, and include plants which not only 

 differ very much in appearance, but also as to the uses to which they are applied ; some, 

 for instance kakri and p hint {see preceding article), being used only as vegetables. The 

 distinguishing characters of all the varieties are confined almost entirely to the fruit, — 

 as to its shape, size, and colour; M. Naudin has conclusively proved their specific 

 identity by the experimental cultivation of every obtainable variety. The results of 

 these experiments were published in the Annales des Sciences Naturelles, a reference 

 to which has already been given. 



From an agricultural point of view the melon is perhaps the most important species 

 of the order, since it is grown to a large extent on sandy stretches in river beds, which 

 could hardly be made to produce any other crop with profit. So soon as the sand banks 

 are exposed by the falling of the river, operations commence by enclosing small plots 

 with grass fences in order to protect them from the inroad of drifting sand. A plenti- 

 ful stock of manure is then carried to the spot, and large holes dug at regular intervals 

 throughout the plot, into v/hich the manure is distributed. The melons are sown over 

 the manure in the boles, which act therefore in the same manner as forcing beds. 



This is the practise in growing melons in the beds of rivers such as the Ganges 

 and Jumna, which consist almost wholly of white sand. Where the river deposit is of 



* References :— Roxb. ri. Ind. ili. 720 ; Kurz in Journ. As. Soc. Rcnp;. (1877) Part ii. p. 102 ; Hook. Fl. Brit. Iiid. ii 

 C20 ; Naiulin in Ann. Sc. Nat. Scr. 4 Vol. xviii, ; Atkinson Ecom. Prod. N.-W. P. Vol. v. p. 9 ; Gaz. N.-W. P. Vol. x. 701 ; 

 Cogniiuix in DC. Mon. Plian. iii. 484 ; DC. L'Orig. PI. Cult. 205. 



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