The Field and Garden Vegetables of America Part 33

It is exceedingly variable in size, form, and color.

HARDY RIDGE. _Loud._

Fruit rather small, round, depressed, strongly ribbed, and irregularly warted all over its surface; skin dull yellow, mottled with dull green; flesh an inch thick, bright orange-red, sweet, and well flavored; rind thick; weight from three to four pounds. Not an early, but a productive variety.

LARGE-RIBBED NETTED.

Common Musk-melon.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Large Netted Musk-melon.]

Fruit very large, oval, strongly ribbed; skin yellow, very thickly netted, sometimes so closely as to cover nearly the entire surface; flesh salmon-yellow, remarkably thick and sweet, but not fine-grained or melting, when compared with the more recent and improved varieties.

Hardy and productive. In good soil and favorable seasons, the fruit sometimes attains a length of fifteen inches, and weighs upwards of twenty pounds.

MUNROE'S GREEN FLESH. _Vil._

A comparatively new variety. The fruit is nearly spherical, but tapers slightly towards the stem, and is rather regularly as well as distinctly ribbed. Its diameter is about five inches. Cicatrix large; skin greenish-yellow, thickly and finely netted over the entire surface; rind thin; flesh green, remarkably transparent, comparatively thick, very melting, and highly perfumed.

NUTMEG.

Fruit oval, regularly but faintly ribbed, eight or nine inches in length, and about six inches in its broadest diameter; skin pale-green, and very thickly netted; rind thin; flesh light-green, rich, sweet, melting, and highly perfumed.

The Nutmeg Melon has been long in cultivation, and is almost everywhere to be found in the vegetable garden, though seldom in a perfectly unmixed state. When the variety is pure, and the fruit perfectly ripened, it is of most delicious excellence, and deservedly ranked as one of "the best."

ORANGE CANTALOUPE.

An oval variety, about six inches in length by five inches in diameter, rather prominently ribbed. Skin yellow, marbled with green, thickly netted about the stem, and spa.r.s.ely so over the remainder of the surface; rind thick; flesh reddish-orange, sweet, highly perfumed, and of good flavor. Very early and productive.

PINE-APPLE.

Form roundish, inclining to oval, either without ribs or with rib-marking, very faintly defined; size small,--the average diameter being about five inches and a half; skin olive-green, with net-markings more or less abundant; rind thin; flesh green, melting, sweet, and perfumed. Season early.

It is an excellent sort, easily grown, and very productive.

PRESCOTT CANTALOUPE. _Vil._

Fruit generally somewhat flattened, but variable in form, deeply ribbed; size large,--well-grown specimens measuring eight or ten inches in diameter, and weighing from seven to nine pounds; skin thickly covered with small tubercles; color varying from grayish-green to clear-green, more or less deep, changing to yellow at maturity; rind very thick; flesh orange-red, sugary and melting, and of delicious flavor.

There are numerous sub-varieties, as grown by different gardeners, varying somewhat in form, color, and time of maturity; all, however, corresponding nearly with the above description, though known by different names, as the "White," "Gray," "Black," "Prescott," &c. Much esteemed in France, and extensively grown by market-gardeners in the vicinity of Paris.

SKILLMAN'S FINE-NETTED.

This variety much resembles the Pine-apple. Form rounded, flattened slightly at the ends; flesh green, sugary, melting, and excellent. It has been p.r.o.nounced "the earliest of the green-fleshed sorts."

VICTORY OF BATH.

A recently introduced variety of English origin. Fruit egg-shaped, faintly ribbed, rounded at the blossom-end, and slightly contracted towards the stem,--at the insertion of which, it is flattened to a small, plane surface; size medium,--about six inches deep, and five inches in diameter; skin green, clouded with yellow, and spa.r.s.ely covered with fine net-markings; skin thin; flesh green.

PERSIAN MELONS. _Trans._

These differ remarkably from the varieties commonly cultivated. They are dest.i.tute of the thick, hard rind which characterizes the common sorts, and which renders so large a portion of the fruit useless. On the contrary, the Persian melons are protected by a skin so thin and delicate, that they are subject to injury from causes that would produce no perceptible effect on the sorts in general cultivation. As a cla.s.s, they are not only prolific, but their flesh is extremely tender, rich, and sweet, and flows copiously with a cool juice, which renders them still more grateful. They are, however, not early; and, for their complete perfection, require a long and warm season.

_Varieties._--

DAMPSHA. _M'Int._

Flesh dark-green near the skin, rather whitish towards the centre, quite melting, and of excellent flavor. The first-produced fruit in the season is somewhat cylindrical, bluntly pointed at both ends; the whole surface being prominently netted, and of a pale-yellow or dark-olive color. The secondary crop has the fruit more pointed and less netted, and the skin becomes much darker. Like the other varieties of winter melons, it may be preserved a long time after being taken from the vines, if suspended in a dry room. Weight four to five pounds.

DAREE. _Trans._

This resembles the Geree Melon in color, as well as in many other respects. It is of the same form; but the rind, when netted, exhibits coa.r.s.er reticulations. The flesh is white, thick, crisp, and melting; when fully ripened, very sweet, but rather insipid if imperfectly matured. It is always, however, cool and pleasant.

GEREE. _Trans._

A handsome green fruit. In shape, it is oval, or ovate; and measures eight inches in length by four inches and a half in breadth. The skin is closely mottled with dark sea-green upon a pale ground, and is either netted or not. In the former case, the meshes are very close; by which character, it may be readily distinguished from the Daree. Stalk very short; flesh an inch and a half or two inches thick, bright-green, melting, very sweet, and highly flavored. Though perhaps equally rich, it is not so beautiful or so juicy as the Melon of Keiseng. A good bearer, but requires a warm, long season.

GERMEK. _Trans._

Large Germek.

A handsome large-sized, ribbed fruit, shaped like a compressed sphere; usually six inches in length, and from seven to nine inches in diameter.

Skin deep-green, closely netted; flesh from an inch and a half to two inches thick, clear green, firm, juicy, and high flavored. This is an excellent variety, an abundant bearer, ripens early, and exceeds in size any of the Persian melons.

GREEN HOOSAINEE. _Trans._

A handsome egg-shaped fruit, five inches long by four inches broad: when unripe, of a very deep-green; but, in maturity, acquiring a fine, even, light-green, regularly netted surface, which, on the exposed side, becomes rather yellow. The flesh is pale-greenish white, tender and delicate, full of a highly perfumed, pleasant, sweet juice; the rind is very thin; the seeds are unusually large.

It is a variety of much excellence, a great bearer, and one of the hardiest of the Persian melons.

GREEN VALENCIA. _M'Int._