spices should then be added; after which,
proceed in the usual manner of making pies from the apple or any other
fruit. If kept from freezing, or from dampness and extreme cold, the
Pie-melon may be preserved until March.
RAVENSCROFT. _W. D. Brinckle._
Size large; form oblong; skin dark-green, faintly striped and marked
with green of a lighter shade, and divided longitudinally by sutures
from an inch and a quarter to two inches apart; rind not more than half
an inch in thickness; seed cream-color, tipped with brown at the eye,
and having a brown stripe around the edge; flesh fine red, commencing
abruptly at the rind, and extending to the centre; flavor delicious and
sugary; quality "best."
This valuable water-melon originated with Col. A. G. Sumner, of South
Carolina.
SOUTER. _W. D. Brinckle._
Size large, sometimes weighing twenty or thirty pounds; form oblong,
occasionally roundish; skin peculiarly marked with finely reticulated,
isolated, gray spots, surrounded by paler green, and having irregular,
dark-green, longitudinal stripes extending from the base to the apex;
rind thin, about half an inch thick; seed pure cream-white, with a faint
russet stripe around the edge; flesh deep-red to the centre; flavor
sugary and delicious; quality "best." Productiveness said to be
unusually great.
This excellent variety originated in Sumpter District, South Carolina.
* * * * *
PAPANJAY, OR SPONGE CUCUMBER.
Papangaye. _Vil._ Cucumis acutangulus.
This is an East-Indian plant, with a creeping stem, and angular,
heart-shaped leaves. The flowers (several of which are produced on one
stem) are yellow; the fruit is ten or twelve inches in length, about an
inch and a half in diameter, deeply furrowed or grooved in the
direction of its length, forming ten longitudinal, acute angles; the
skin is hard, and of a russet-yellow color; the seeds are black, rough,
and hard, and quite irregular in form,--about five hundred are contained
in an ounce.
_Use._--The fruit is eaten while it is quite young and small; served in
the manner of cucumbers, or like vegetable marrow. When fully ripened,
it is exceedingly tough, fibrous, and porous, and is sometimes used as a
substitute for sponge: whence the name.
* * * * *
PRICKLY-FRUITED GHERKIN.
Gherkin. West-Indian Cucumber. Jamaica Cucumber. Cucumis anguria.
This species is said to be a native of Jamaica. T
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