THE PERSIAN MELON. 777 
There is no determinate change of colour, that ahsolutely marks the 
state of perfect maturity, at least, I have not perceived such ; the 
general tint appears to me to be a glaucous or sea-green, covered 
more or less with a pale greyish tissue of vermicular reticulations. 
In some individuals, the green stripes remain very conspicuous to the 
last : in others, they become almost obliterated. 
The maturity of the fruit upon a fine and healthy plant, is to be 
determined by the age, taken in connection with the increase, in in- 
tensity, of the yellow in the circle round the stalk, the softness of 
that part, and perhaps, by the formation of a circular crack at the 
spot where the stalk joins the fruit. No distinctive odor is to be 
expected. If indeed^ an accident cause disease, or the death of the 
plant, or if the leaves be broken so as to destroy their vital energy, 
the fruit will be aiTested in its growth, and then, it will assume a 
suffused yellowish tint, and emit the order of a melon. I had one 
fine fruit that enlarged with the utmost rapidity, till it weighed above 
live pounds ; the leaves of the plant were then injured by an accident, 
so much so, that the plant became torpid. The fruit, from that mo- 
ment ceased to enlai'ge, its tint changed, its substance became soft, 
and the odor of a melon was diffused ; at the same time a still larger 
fruit that had begun to swell above ten days before, remained un- 
changed, and it continued to improve for above a fortnight, after the 
one injured was removed, neither varying considerably in its tint, 
nor giving out the slightest distinctive aroma. Maturity may how- 
ever be ascertained by one circumstance, which (to adopt the ex- 
pressive language of Mr. Knight,) will afford "an unen'ing induc- 
tion of the time when the fruit ought to be cut. Little globules, ap- 
parently of water, but really composed of the juice of the fruit, ap- 
pear at the junction of the fruit and its stalk. If such bubbles aji- 
pear, and are sweet to the taste, the fruit should be instantly cut." 
I have witnessed the correctness of these remarks, but may add, 
that in the largest specimen produced by me this summer, the ooz- 
ing of saccharine matter took place upon the stalk, at a spot about 
half an inch above its insertion, and where it had become rather 
flaccid or withered : no odor was perceptible, nor could any other 
certain sign of ripeness be traced, although the fruit had remained 
upon the plant, fourteen days longer than another individual that 
was in the same department. 
The plant, in its habit of growth, is one of the finest and most 
interesting objects imaginable. The stem, if led perpendicularly up 
to the height of three feet, will comprise about ten clear joints. 
From each joint, at its angle, a noble leaf nearly a foot in diameter 
