In your February number I find several comments upon the Melon shrub or Pepino. As I have already answered most of the remarks, I will confine myself now to only a few points. I enclose the circular on the Pepino which I first sent out, by which you can see that everything quoted by your correspondent G. M. is in fact taken originally from my circular, though several parties have copied the same without indicating the author.

The taste of the fruit varies considerably with the locality, and I must here reiterate that the hotter the place the poorer the taste of the Pepino. What fruits I raised under glass did never come up in flavor and acid to the fruit raised in open ground. In fact, both were decidedly wanting. Without the acid, the fruit is comparatively value, less, as it is this very remarkable acid - remarkable by its property of allaying the thirst - which gives the fruit its great value. In eating the fruit it is necessary first, to peel it, as the skin contains a very bitter principle, or perhaps a rather pungent one. As the Pepino ripens in the Central American highlands, where the average temperature during the ripening season is about 72º Fh., it certainly ranks as one of the most valuable fruits of the country, and is so considered by both natives and foreigners. It is, however, not to be expected that the Pepino will prove equally good everywhere, but it will find its choice location just as nearly every other fruit known.

A plant and fruit somewhat analagous to the Pepino as regards climate and other conditions, is the "Curuba," from the highlands of Ecuador and Bogota. It is a passion vine, bearing a fruit there considered as the finest of all fruits, and it is generally commented upon by all travelers. The seed of this fruit was first introduced by me to Central America, and from there brought to California. The vine is tolerably hardy, having herein Fresno stood uninjured, except as regards the very tender tips, a temperature of 26º Fah., northern exposure. I have great hopes in this fruit for California and the south, and perhaps also as a greenhouse vine. It is entirely distinct from the P. grenadilla and edulis. The scientific name I do not know.

By mail I send you some plants of both the Pepino and Curuba, and hope you will give them a test. The Curuba is most impatient of manure or sour soil, and requires in this respect somewhat to be petted, but the quality of the fruit will repay any care. Fresno, Cal.