Editing Montreal melon

{{Short description|Variety of fruit}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox cultivar
| name     = 'Montreal Market'
| image    = Muskmelon, the largest in cultivation (extract).jpg
| genus    = ''[[Cucumis]]''
| species  = ''[[Cucumis melo|C. melo]]''
| cultivar = 'Montreal Market'
| origin   = Introduced by [[Washington Atlee Burpee]], 1881<ref name=VoNY>{{cite book |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/121412#page/597/mode/1up |title=The vegetables of New York |author1=U.P. Hedrick |author2=F. H. Hall |author3=L. R. Hawthorn |author4=Alwin Berger  |name-list-style=amp |volume=1 |section= Part IV: The Cucurbits |year=1937 |page=81 |publisher=New York State Agricultural Experiment Station/The Biodiversity Heritage Library}}</ref>
| subspecies = ''Cucumis melo'' subsp. ''melo''
}}

The '''Montreal melon''', also known as the '''Montreal market muskmelon''' or the '''Montreal nutmeg melon''' ({{langx|fr|melon de Montréal}}), is a type of [[melon]] traditionally grown in the area around [[Montreal]], Canada. It was popularised by the seed merchant [[Washington Atlee Burpee|W. Atlee Burpee]] starting in 1881 but later disappeared from large-scale cultivation. It was rediscovered in 1996 in a [[seed bank]] in [[Iowa]].

==Description==
The fruit is netted like a North American [[cantaloupe]] and deeply ribbed like a European cantaloupe.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} Its flesh is light green, almost melting in the mouth when eaten.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} Its spicy flavour is reminiscent of [[nutmeg]].{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} During its heyday, it was larger than any other melon cultivated on the continent.<ref name=VoNY/> "The fruit is of the largest size, specimens often weighing twenty pounds and upward. The shape of this melon is almost round, flattened at both ends, and deeply ribbed, skin green and netted, flesh very thick and of finest flavour."<ref>The Ottawa free trader. (Ottawa, Ill.), 13 June 1885. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. [http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038582/1885-06-13/ed-1/seq-7/]</ref>

A report dated 1909 states that the Montreal melon is difficult to grow and varies greatly in size. "One weighing 44 pounds has been grown. The writer saw one weighing 22 pounds, which had been selected for seed purposes. Their average weight ranges from 8 to 15 pounds... The larger melons are apt to be poorer in quality than those weighing 8 to 15 pounds."<ref>{{cite journal |date=November 1908 |title=The Montreal Musk Melon Industry |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Q2UYGht3SKAC&dq=Montreal+melon&pg=PA1|journal= Experiment Station Work, XLIX, Farmers Bulletin 342|publisher= US Dept. of Agriculture|issue=11 January 1909 |access-date=23 October 2013}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Montreal melon newspaper.png|thumbnail|American newspaper article from 1885 about the melon, shown on the left]]

The Montreal melon was originally widely grown between the [[St. Lawrence River]] and [[Mount Royal]], on the Montreal Plain. In its prime, from the late 19th century until [[World War II]], it was one of the most popular varieties of melon on the east coast of North America.

American newspaper reports show that the melon was also grown in [[Vermont]] in the early 20th century and was found to be "exceedingly profitable" for farmers.<ref>{{citation |journal=Burlington Weekly Free Press. (Burlington, Vt.) |date=10 August 1911 |publisher=Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86072143/1911-08-10/ed-1/seq-16/ |title=Truck Gardens a Failure}}</ref> One article lists the melons selling for about $10/dozen at wholesale and from $1.25 to $1.75 each at retail in 1907.<ref>Burlington weekly free press. (Burlington, Vt.), 8 August 1907. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. [http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86072143/1907-08-08/ed-1/seq-16/]</ref>

The melon disappeared as Montreal grew. Its delicate rind, suitable for [[family farm]]s, was ill-suited to [[agribusiness]]. But after about 40 years, it was rediscovered in a [[seed bank]] maintained by the [[U.S. Department of Agriculture]] in [[Ames, Iowa]], in 1996,<ref name="cangeomag">{{cite web|url=http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/magazine/back_issues/article.asp?article=1759|title=Missing melon|publisher=Canadian Geographic Magazine|access-date=22 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011115526/http://canadiangeographic.ca/magazine/back_issues/article.asp?article=1759|archive-date=11 October 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> and has since enjoyed a renaissance among Montreal-area gardeners.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Montreal melon, once thought to be all but gone, makes long-awaited comeback {{!}} Globalnews.ca |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/10724842/montreal-melon-comeback/ |access-date=30 October 2024 |website=Global News}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of Canadian inventions and discoveries]]
* [[List of resurrected species]]
* [[Lazarus taxon]]
* [[De-extinction]]

==References==
Uses public domain text from the USDA as shown (public domain due to age)
{{reflist}}
* ''Cultural studies on the Montreal market muskmelon'', ''Vermont Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin'', #169 (1912).

==External links==
* [http://www.vehiculepress.com/montreal/urban_melon.html "Return of the Montreal Melon" by Gwynne Basen]
{{Melons}}

[[Category:Melons]]
[[Category:Cuisine of Quebec]]
[[Category:Montreal cuisine]]
[[Category:Flora of Quebec]]
[[Category:Crops originating from Canada]]