2 42 
CULTURE OF MELONS. 
good. In fact, this melon is one of the handsomest of its tribe, and 
its flavour is duly delicious. The only fault or defect consists in the 
rind being somewhat thicker than that of the Housainee; hut yet, 
as far at least as my experience may he an evidence,—the rind, 
when compared with that of the melons of Europe, is in the propor¬ 
tion of writing-paper to stoutish pasteboard. 
As in this comparison, and indeed, in the discrimination of the 
fruit, I have not been benefited by personal reference to any high 
botanical authority, nor even by my own observation of the fruit of 
the Great Germek itself, I feel called upon to give my reasons for 
designating this fruit a Germek melon. I received the seed by a 
circuitous channel, from Longleat, the seat of the Marquiss of Bath. 
It came to me in 1831, without a name or any other description 
than that which pointed out its merits in respect to the exquisite 
quality and flavour of the fruit. 
When I first ascertained the dimensions, and perfect external ap¬ 
pearance of the melon, in the spring of 1832, I referred to Mr. 
Lindley’s Catalogue, (Guide to the Orchard, fyc. p. 236, No. 20.) 
and found therein, a description which corresponded closely with 
the fruit then before me; it was, however, the only one that afforded 
me any clue to the information I sought: the passage read thus :— 
“ Large Germek.— Hort. Trans. Yol. 6, p. 558.—A very hand¬ 
some ribbed fruit, generally weighing five or six pounds, shaped like 
a depressed sphere, usually six inches deep, and from seven to nine 
inches in diameter. At the apex is situated a corona , or circular 
scar, varying from an inch to two inches in diameter. Skin sea- 
green, closely netted. Flesh one and three quarters to two inches 
thick, clear green, becoming paler towards the inside, firm, juicy, 
very rich and high-flavoured.” 
My fruit answered in so many important particulars to the above 
description, that I could not reasonably doubt its Persian origin; 
but in some respects a difference was discernable In the figure and 
structure it was the same; it was also crowned at the apex with a 
circular scar; the ground-colour was a sea or glaucous green, but 
that ground was varied by blotches of very dark olive-green, irregu¬ 
larly, but beautifully distributed over the surface. The netting too, 
though decisively marked, could not correctly be styled close, or 
predominant. The tint of the flesh was of a clear green, becoming 
paler towards the inside, yet it gradually resolved itself into a deli¬ 
cate pinkish buff or salmon-colour, which was most marked in the 
part immediately enclosing the seeds. 
The weight of the fruit was under four pounds; hut that, perhaps. 
