Melon patch

“ When perfectly fine, a melon should have no vacuity, a fact ascertainable by the sound given forth on gently knocking the exterior, and when cut the juice should not run forth in a stream, but only gently exude to gem the flesh with dew-like drops of moisture. Small melons, too, are generally better than large ones, as the treatment which fosters increase of size tends also to impair flavour; and the bulky giants of the race, produced by excessive manuring, are therefore rejected by good judges, who desire rather to gratify the palate than to please the eye. ”

“ The diversity of size among melons classed as Cantaloupes is very great, but all are characterised by a more or less rough and thick rind, which considerably reduces the eatable proportion of the fruit, a defect which seems to increase in the larger-growing kinds, as in the old Black Rock Melon, for instance, which often attains a weight of 14 lbs., about three-parts of it, however, being composed of a rugged wall of rind studded with carbuncles, and a mass of seeds within, embedded in the fraction of eatable pulp, small indeed in quantity and very poor in quality. ”

“ The real prairie water-melon is an enormous affair, being about as large as the roll of rugs without which fussy gentlemen consider it impossible to travel. The skin is of the darkest green and as hard as a board, a most unripe-looking object at all times. Indeed the only way one can find out the condition of a water-melon’s insides is by surgical operation. You simply cut out a plug about an inch square from the top side of the melon, and look to see if the flesh has turned crimson at the 142centre. ”

“ A sort of melon grows on tall plants and is eaten with salt as one does cantaloupe, but it grows very much larger. It is without doubt the melon tree found everywhere in the tropics, probably of the papaya family. ”

“ Unlike the other melons mentioned, which are oblong and green, and very tender of rind, the Winter is round, nearly white-skinned and of a hardness approaching the citron. The flesh, however, is red and very firm. It must not be concluded that the Winter is a late season melon, for it is one of the earliest, continuing to bear until frost cuts the vines, so that it may be grown for a single melon crop if desired. ”

“ Persons who have visited hot climates know well how to appreciate the grateful coolness and delicious flavour of the water melon, the flesh of which is so succulent that it melts in the mouth; and the central pulp of which is fluid, like that of the cocoa-nut, and may be sucked, or poured out through a hole in the rind, and thus made to afford a most refreshing beverage.
To the inhabitants of Egypt, China, the East Indies, and other countries, where they are cultivated to a great extent, water melons are extremely valuable, {210}both as food and physic. ”

“ Take hard melons, after they are sufficiently ripe to be well flavored. Slice them lengthwise, scrape out the seed, and lay the melon in salt over night; wash and wipe dry, put them in alum water one hour, wash and wipe them again; cut them in slices and pack in jars. Pour over them a syrup of vinegar seasoned with cinnamon and cloves; put three or four pounds of sugar to one gallon vinegar, and boil until it is right thick.—Mrs. ”

“ Such a location will usually produce earlier melons than a north or west slope and is better than a level area because the soil dries out more quickly after a rain, thus permitting more timely tillage in a wet season, and resulting in the production of melons of better flavor. It is only in dry seasons that low, flat land, unless thoroughly tile-drained, produces good melons. The condition of the soil in reference to its supply of humus has a marked influence upon the welfare of the melon crop. ”

“ Take young watermelons, cucumbers or cantelopes; scrape the melons, and cut the rinds in shapes--leave the cucumbers whole; put them in a preserving kettle with alum and water; cover them, and let them boil till they are transparent; take them out, wash them in cold water, and wipe each piece separately; have your kettle nicely cleaned, and give them rather more than their weight in sugar; put a layer of sugar, and a layer of melon, some slices of green ginger, and the rind and juice of a lemon; let them stew over the fire till the syrup is rich ”

“ To sight, the watermelon is a long greenish body, but this is its least important quality. Sight alone gives the poorest idea of the watermelon. We approach the vine where the fruit is growing, and in order to decide whether it is ripe, we tap the rind and judge by the sound. We must remember that a ripe watermelon has a certain resonance. By passing our hands over the melon, we learn that it has certain touch characteristics. We cut it open and learn the qualities of taste and smell. All this knowledge afforded by the different senses must enter into a perfected memory image. ”

“ An [Pg 77] insufficiency of moisture is an error too prevalent with many gardeners in the culture of the melon, and indeed the inferiority of their fruit, both in weight and flavour, may be greatly attributed to want of judgment in this particular; for if the plants are kept thin of vine, the necessity of which has been before stated, they are of course more open to the air, and the sun has greater power in drying up the soil, consequently the plants will become exhausted, and the fruit will ripen before its growth is properly matured. ”

“ If a fellow could get but a bit of earth to put them melon-seeds in, we might be eating our fruit like gentlemen, two months hence, or three months, at the latest."
"That is a good thought, Betts, and we will turn it over in our minds. If such a thing is to be done at all, the sooner it is done the better, that the melons maybe getting ahead while we are busy with the other matters. This is just the season to put seed into the ground, and I think we might make soil enough to sustain a few hills of melons. ”

“ The Scarlet Rock is, however, the finest flavoured melon that can be produced, though small in its growth, seldom exceeding the weight of three pounds, and commonly from one to two. The flesh is of a deep scarlet colour, and it is rather inclined to rock.
The Early Cantaloupe is the most productive melon in bearing; but in order to obtain them good flavoured no more than one fruit must be suffered to swell on a plant at a time, except the lights are large, when two may be allowed, that is, six in a light; but if, however, the plants are confined to one fruit, a second crop may be obtained. ”

“ Our Indian-corn was very fine; so were the pumpkins. We had some fine vegetables in the garden, especially the peas and melons; the latter were very large and fine. The cultivation of the melon is very simple: you first draw the surrounding earth together with a broad hoe into a heap; the middle of this heap is then slightly hollowed out, so as to form a basin, the mould being raised round the edges; into this hollow you insert several melon-seeds, and leave the rest to the summer heat; if you water the plants from time to time, it is well for them; the soil should be fine black mould ”

“ In its manner of growth, foliage, flowering, and in the odor and taste of the ripened fruit, it strongly resembles the musk-melon. The fruit is slender and flexuous; frequently measures more than three feet in length; and is often gracefully coiled or folded in a serpent-like form. The skin is green; the flesh, while the fruit is forming, is greenish-white,—at maturity, yellow; the seeds are yellowish-white, oval, flattened, often twisted or contorted like those of some varieties of melons, and retain their vitality five years. ”

“ Every description of melon will be brought to a greater degree of perfection, by being suffered to swell off on the first shows, which can alone be effected by keeping them thin of vine: if this is particularly attended to, no apprehension need be entertained of the fruit being small or delicate, as, in proportion to the quantity of vine, so it decreases the strength and vigour of the plants.
Great care is necessary in watering the plants: when they are young, it should be applied with a rose; but as soon as the runners are extended all over the bed, that may be dispensed with. ”

“ When the flesh of the melon changes color and its seeds begin to turn black a small scale or blister appears on the rind. They increase in number and size as the melon ripens, until a ripe one shows them thickly strewn over the surface. ”

“ With a water-melon one may drink and wash one's face at once! Who has not seen the street urchins gnawing at a slice of 133 crimson melon, while the water streams out from among the black seeds, and does in truth make streaks of cleanliness at least upon their faces; for not the widest mouth can catch all the dripping juice. ”

“ The fruit is globular, ovoid, spindle-shaped, or serpent-like, netted or smooth-skinned, ribbed or furrowed, variously coloured externally, with white, green, or orange flesh when ripe, scented or scentless, sweet or insipid, bitter or even nauseous, &c. Like the gourd, the melon undergoes strange metamorphoses by crossing its varieties, though the latter preserve their characters when alone. The offspring of all crossings are fertile. ”

“ The melon-bug is another nuisance; it is a small winged animal, of a bright yellow colour, striped with black bars, and takes up its abode in the flower of the melon and pumpkin, breeding fast, and destroying wherever it settles, for young plants are literally eaten up by it. ”

“ Any one accustomed to travel in our Southern States, in the right season of the year, will have observed how voraciously the negro population, young and old, eat of the cheap, ripe crop of watermelons; but these South American peons have a capacity for storage and digestion of this really wholesome article, beyond all comparison. A child not more than ten years of age will devour the ripe portion of a large melon in a few minutes, and no ill effects seem to follow. ”

“ Then take them out of the water, sprinkle powdered cloves, and nutmeg, round on the inside of the melon, fill them with strips of horseradish, cinnamon, small string beans, or flag root, nasturtion, and radish tops, fill the crevices, with American mustard seed; put on the covers, and sew each one up in a bag. Lay the melons in a stone jar, with the side that the covers are on up; turn on scalding hot vinegar, with alum, pepper corns, and salt in it. Pickled barberries are a pretty garnish for them. ”

“ In this country it is but too common to regard the melon simply as a dessert fruit, to be eaten with sugar and accompanied by wine. Eaten in this way the melon is excellent; but perhaps the true use of the melon, like that of most fruits, is to form the initial dish of the day. In America it is customary to begin breakfast with a melon seasoned with pepper and salt.
The apple crop is commencing in most parts of the country; but winter apples will not be picked until quite the end of the month.
Buying at the Stores almost necessitates buying in large quantities. ”

“ If you don’t mind a little fuss and bother, you may after it is cut up sprinkle the melon well with powdered sugar, put it into the freezer and frappé but not freeze it, and then send it to table. To the palates of many of this day and generation watermelon well chilled comes as a boon, for the best of men now and then are afflicted with a thirst these warm mornings which nothing save ice-water seems to quench, [Pg 100] but the physicians and moralists have held forth at such length on the subject that one feels like a guilty thing upon taking a drink of cold water before breaking fast. ”

“ This fruit grows more rapidly and in greater abundance than melons, so much so that some plant them, even among those who are experienced, for the purpose of clearing and bringing into subjection the wild undressed land to fit it for cultivation. Their juice is very sweet like that of apricots, and most men there would eat six water-citrons to one melon, although they who wish can have both. They grow ordinarily to the size of a man's head. ”

“ When they are to be served plain as a breakfast food or a luncheon dessert, cut them crosswise into halves, or, if they are large, divide them into sections lengthwise. With the melons cut in the desired way, remove all the seeds and keep the melons on ice until they are to be served. The pulp of the melon may also be cut from the rind and then diced and used in the making of fruit salads. Again, the pulp may be partly scraped out of the melon and the rinds then filled with fruit mixtures and served with a salad dressing for a salad or with fruit juices for a cocktail. ”

“ Ingredients.—Small melons, small French beans, grated horseradish, cloves, ground nutmeg, cinnamon, pepper, vinegar, and to each quart add 1 teaspoonful each of cloves, allspice and black peppercorns.
Method.—Cut off one end, scoop out the inside of each melon, then replace and secure the end. Cover the melons with strong brine, let them remain undisturbed for 4 days, then drain and dry well. Sprinkle the inside of each melon liberally with cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and pepper, and stuff them with well-seasoned French beans and horseradish. ”

“ It is a fruit about the bigness of a musk-melon, hollow as that is, and much resembling it in shape and colour, both outside and inside: only in the middle, instead of flat kernels, which the melons have, these have a handful of small blackish seeds about the bigness of peppercorns; whose taste is also hot on the tongue somewhat like pepper. The fruit itself is sweet, soft and luscious, when ripe; but while green it is hard and unsavoury: though even then being boiled and eaten with salt-pork or beef, it serves instead of turnips and is as much esteemed. ”