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The following are the principal varieties which appear to be deserving of cultivation: these I shall divide under four different heads, according to the colour of their flesh, the thickness of their rind, and time of ripening.

FIRST DIVISION.

SUMMER MELONS.

1. With Red Flesh and thick Rind.

1. BLACK ROCK. Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 20.

Fruit very large, oblate, from eight to ten inches in diameter, and from seven to eight inches deep. Skin of a very deep green, with broad black blotches, but turning yellowish when ripe, and covered with large knobs or carbuncles. Flesh thick, of a deep orange colour, very firm, and if cut before it be too ripe it possesses a very excellent flavour: weight from eight to fourteen pounds.

2. DUTCH ROCK. Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 21.

Fruit oblate, eight inches wide, and six inches deep. Skin bright yellow, full of carbuncles and knobs, which are mottled with dark green. Flesh bright orange, an inch and a half thick, fine, melting, sweet, and high flavoured weight from five to eight pounds.

3. EARLY CANTALOUP. Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 3. Fruit small, ribbed, nearly round. Skin whitish green, blotched with darker green. Flesh deep orange, juicy, of pretty good flavour: weight from two to four pounds.

4. EARLY POLIGNAC. Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 19. Fruit middle-sized, spherical, five or six inches in diameter. Skin pale yellow, slightly warted. Flesh one inch and a half thick, of a yellowish salmon colour, sweet, and well flavoured.

5. HARDY RIDGE. Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 12.

Fruit rather small, round, depressed, strongly ribbed, irregularly warted all over its surface. Skin dull yellow, mottled with dull green. Flesh an inch thick, bright orange-red, sweet, and well flavoured.

6. MELON DES CARMES. Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 37. Fruit oblong, tapering to each end, eight inches in diameter in the middle, and twelve inches long. Skin bright orange, mottled with dark green. Flesh pale salmon colour, two inches thick, tender, not juicy, but sweet and good flavoured.

7. MONTAGU CANTALOUP. Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 4. Hort. Trans. Vol. iv. p. 320.

Fruit sometimes round, sometimes oval, about five inches in diameter. Skin greenish white, netted. Flesh one inch and a half thick, red, but not high coloured, soft, juicy, sweet, and delicate.

8. NETTED CANTALOUP. Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 5. White Seeded Cantaloup. Ib.

Fruit rather small, round. Skin pale green, very closely reticulated. Flesh dark reddish orange, with a rich sugary juice.

9. NETTED SUCCADA. Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 30. Fruit middle-sized, somewhat ribbed. Skin dull pale green, very closely covered with reticulations. Flesh deep orange colour, firm, and high flavoured.

10. ORANGE CANTALOUP. Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 6. Fruit below the middle size, round. Skin pale yellow, becoming deeper coloured when ripe, and a little netted on its surface. Flesh deep orange-red, juicy, sugary, and extremely high flavoured.

11. ROMANA. Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 26. Fruit middle-sized, oval, slightly ribbed. Skin pale yellow, reticulated on its surface. Flesh deep yellow, firm, and well flavoured.

12. SCARLET ROCK. Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 24.

Fruit oblate, deeply ribbed, about five inches deep,

and seven inches in diameter. Skin pale green, mottled Flesh of a reddish salmon colour,

with dark green.

tender, juicy, sweet, and high flavoured.

13. SILVER ROCK. Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 25.

Fruit middle-sized, oblate, about five inches each way. Skin greenish yellow, with a few small warts, and orange-coloured blotches. Flesh pale salmon colour, sweet, and well flavoured.

14. SMOOTH SCARLET-FLeshed.

No. 29. Hort. Trans. Vol. iv. p. 320.

Hort. Soc. Cat.

Fruit nearly round, occasionally inclining to oval, about five inches in diameter. Skin greenish yellow, spitted with small green spots, and more or less netted on its surface. Flesh bright scarlet, firm, and high flavoured.

2. With Green Flesh and moderately thick Rind.

15. GREEN-fleshed. Hort. Soc. Cat. No. 9. Fruit roundish, flattened at both ends, five inches long, and four inches in diameter. Skin smooth, of a pale silvery green, slightly netted. ceedingly sweet, and high flavoured: to three pounds; a very excellent melon. 16. ITALIAN GREEN-FLESHED. Hort. Trans. Vol.iv. p. 319.

Flesh green, exweight from two

Fruit small, round, or somewhat oval, about four inches and a half in diameter. Skin pale greenish white. Flesh dark green, but pale towards the inside next the seeds, about an inch thick, soft, juicy, very sweet, and high flavoured: weight from two to three pounds.

3. With Green or White Flesh, and thin Rind. p. 557.

17. DAREE MELON. Hort. Trans. Vol. vi. Fruit oval or ovate, about nine inches long, and six inches in diameter. Skin closely mottled with dark sea-green upon a pale ground, rather widely netted, but is subject to become smooth. Flesh white, thick, crisp, and melting; when fully ripened very sweet, but rather insipid if imperfectly matured: it is always, however, cool and pleasant.

This is a good deal like the next sort; but the rind, when netted, exhibits coarse reticulations. The principal differences are in the stalk, which is two inches and a half long, and in the flesh which is white, not green. It is a finer fruit, but less highly flavoured.

18. GEREE MELON. Ostrich Egg. Ib. 557.

Hort. Trans. Vol. vi. p. 556.

A handsome green fruit. In shape it is oval or ovate, eight inches long, and four inches and a half in diameter. 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 known from the Daree. When well ripened, various numerous longitudinal fissures appear upon the rind, which has sometimes from nine to eleven short dark-green streaks, radiating from the apex. Stalk very short. Flesh one inch and a half or two inches thick, bright green, melting, very sweet, and highly flavoured.

The Geree melon is a good bearer, but tender. 19. GREEN HOOSAINEE. Hort. Trans. Vol. vi. p. 560.

Fruit handsome egg-shaped, five inches long, and four inches in diameter. Skin, when unripe, of a very deep green, but when matured, of a fine, even, light

green, with a regularly netted surface, which, on the exposed side, becomes rather yellow. Flesh pale greenish white, tender and delicate, full of an highly-perfumed, pleasant, sweet juice. The rind is very thin; the seeds unusually large.

This is a variety of much excellence; it is a great bearer, and hardier than any of the Persian melons except the Large Germek.

20. LARGE GERMEK. Hort. Trans. Vol. vi. p. 558. A very handsome 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 inch and threequarters or two inches thick, clear green, becoming paler towards the inside, firm, juicy, very rich, and high flavoured.

'This is an excellent variety, ripening early, and speedily arriving at a bearing state. It is very prolific, and produces larger fruit than any of the Persian melons, and generally produces a second crop spontaneously.

21. MELON OF KEISING. Hort. Trans. Vol. vi. p. 555.

A beautiful egg-shaped fruit, eight inches long, five inches wide in the middle, and six inches wide at the base. Skin of a pale lemon colour, minutely speckled with paler dots, regularly netted all over, with a few cracks lengthwise. Flesh from one inch and a half to two inches and a quarter thick, nearly white, flowing copiously with a cool juice, extremely delicate, sweet, and high flavoured, similar in texture to a well-ripened Beurré pear.

It resembles the next sort, but differs in being closely netted all over, instead of being smooth.

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