THE MUSK-MELON.
Cucumis melo.
Plant running,—varying in length from five to eight feet; leaves large, angular, heart-shaped, and rough on the upper and under surface; flowers yellow, one-petaled, five-pointed, and about an inch in diameter; seeds oval, flat, generally yellow, but sometimes nearly white, about four-tenths of an inch in length, and three-sixteenths of an inch in breadth,—the size, however, varying to a considerable extent in the different varieties. An ounce contains from nine hundred to eleven hundred seeds; and they retain their germinative properties from eight to ten years.
Varieties.—These are exceedingly numerous, in consequence of the great facility with which the various kinds intermix, or hybridize. Varieties are, however, much more easily produced than retained: consequently, old names are almost annually discarded from the catalogues of seedsmen and gardeners; and new names, with superior recommendations, offered in their stead. The following list embraces most of the kinds of much prominence or value now cultivated either in Europe or this country:—
Beechwood.
Fruit nearly spherical, but rather longer than broad,—usually five or six inches in diameter; skin greenish-yellow, thickly and regularly netted; flesh green, melting, sugary, and excellent. An early and fine variety.
Black-Rock Cantaloupe. Loud.
A large-fruited, late variety; form variable, but generally round, and flattened at the ends; size large,—ten inches in diameter, eight inches deep, and weighing eight or ten pounds. The skin varies in color from grayish-green to deep-green; becomes yellow at maturity, and is thickly spread with knobby bunches, or small protuberances. Rind very thick; flesh reddish-orange, melting, and sugary. It requires a long season for its full perfection.
Christiana.