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uot plixntoa earlier than the month of May, this precaution need not be attended to, unless the weather
prove uneommonly cold, and i>ut little sunshine.” G. iicw., p. R3.) . . ^ . a. /• -a
e plants advance into the first runners, three or four joints m length, il no Iriut
le third joint, in order th a t they may produce fruitful laterals; aud as the run-
' • - Many of these runners, as the plant
uni'ommonly c
3273. Training. As the y
be shown, stop them a t the t . .. . .
ncrs extend, train them over tho surface of the bed with neat pegs. Many ol tnese runners, as me piant
proceeds, will show embryo fruit a t the jo in ts ; but a great many barren ones are occasionally produced,
and hence it becomes necessary to regulate them. Abercrombie says, “ Cut out the superiiuous, uniruit-
ful, or evidently useless shoots, especially tho very weak and the most luxuriant; for the middie-sized
are the most fertile.” ^ i r i •
3274. Selling. As the fruit-bearers come into blossom, you may assist the setting of the iruit, by impregnating
some of the female blossoms with the male flowers, as described for the cucumber. 1 he
melon, however, will also set naturally, and produce fertile seeds, if the time of fructification full at a
season when the glasses can be left almost constantly open. (Abcr.) Nicol says, he has proved experimentally,
th at melons not impregnated will not swell off so fair and handsome as impregnated ones, and
therefore considers it more necessary to attend to this operation in melons than iu cucumbers.
3275. Carc of the fruit. As the fru it increases to the size of a walnut, place a flat tile or slate under
each, to protect it from the damp of the e a rth ; th e slab thus interposed will also assist the fruit to npen,
by reflecting the rays of the sun. {Abercrombie.)
327(1. Time of maturation. T h e interval between the setting of the fruit and perfect maturity is gcne-
rallv from thirty to forty days; but the plants in the same bed, and the vines on the same plant, otten
show some diflerence in the time of reaching maturity.
3277. Cuiting the fr u it. Ripe melons are distinguished by their full size; sometimes by turning yel-
hnvish, more constantly by imparting an agreeable odour; often by the base ol the foot-stalk, close to
the fruit, cracking in a little circle. On these indications of maturity, the fruit should be cut, bAnfqre
too mellow or dead ripe, th a t it may eat with a lively sharp flavour. T h e morning is the time lor
*^*3278^ A£7f'?Mg .w(f. The ordinary mode is to request th e seeds of particularly fine fruits, of approved
sorts, to be returned from table. The best way, however, is to pick some best ripe fruit, take out the
seed, clean it from the pulp, and let it be well dried and hardened; and then put it up in papers. {Abercrombie.)
Nicol says, wash it very clean, skimming off the light seeds, as those only that sink m water
will grow. (Art/., P..31K).) Great care must be taken th a t the sorts, from which seeds are saved, are
genuine and distinct. When different sorts are planted iu the same frame, this cannot bo the case.
3279. Second crop from the same plants. When the fruit of the first crop is off, a second crop may be
obtained from the stools; which often proves more productive than the first. If the first crop is taken
before the middle of June, th e second will come in a t a very good time. F or this purpose, as soon as
tiie fruit is cut, prune tho plant. Shorten the vigorous healthy runners at a promising joint, to lorce
out new laterals; cuttmg about 2 in. above the joint. At the same time take off all decayed or sickly
vines, and all dead leaves. Stir the surface of the mould; and renew it partially, by 3 in. depth of fresh
compost. Water the plant copiously; shutting down the glasses for the night. Shade m the muld e
of hot days; and give but little air until the plant has made new radicles and shoots. Aftenvards
repeat the course of culture above described, from the stage when the first runners arc sent out till Iruit
3280. T.atc crop on old hotbeds. To ripen melons, not earlier than the month of August, M'Phail
“ generally made beds of dung which had first been used for linings to th e early cucumber and melon
beds. For this purpose, this kind of dung is better than new dung, because it does not heat violently,
and keeps its heat for a considerable time. Leaves of trees make very good melon-beds, but they do not
produce heat enough alone for linings: of whatever materials melon-bcds be made, the air in the frames
among the plants should be kept sweet and strong, otherwise the plants will not grow Ireely. It may be
known whether the air be sweet or not, by putting the head in under the_ lights, and smelling it. It is
frequently very difficult to bring dung-becls into a requisite state of kindliness for these delicate plants;
for if the dung bv any means get and retain too much water before its noxious vapours pass oft by
evaporation, it will stagnate and become sour, and, until these pernicious qualities be removed, which
requires time and patience, the plants will not grow kindly; besides this, although corrupted stinking
air hinders the growth of plants of the melon kind, it greatly promotes th e health and forwards the
breeding of different kinds of insects, which feed upon and otherwise h urt fruits, and plants, and esculent
vegetables of various kinds.”
3281. Culture of melons in a dung-pit. “ A glazed pit to receive either stable-dung, leaves, or tanners
bark, is calculated to ripen extremely fine fruit. The well of the pit may be formed either by a 9-inch
wall, or by strong planking; 1 yd. in iep th , from 6 ft. to 8 ft. wide, and in length from 10 ft. to 20 ft., or
move, as required. A low glass case is to be fltted to it, adapted to th e growth of th e melon. Having
raised the plants in a small seed-bed as for the frame crop, ridge them out into the pit in the usual
manner. Give the proper subsequent culture; and when th e strength of the fermenting mass begins to
decline, add linings outside the pit, if enclosed by boards; but if enclosed by a 9-inch wall, cut away as
much of the dung and earth within, and throw it out, as will admit a lining of well-tempered dung.”
{Abercrombie.)
3282. Culture o f melons in a flued pit. One such as that proper for the nursing-pincry is here understood
; and the plants being raised in th e usual way, and th e bed, whether filled with dung, tan, or leaves,
or a mixture of these, being moulded, plant about the end of July. Nicol prefers for such late crops
“ the early golden cantaloup, the orange cantaloup, and the netted cantaloup, planting a part of the pit
with each. A very mild bottom heat is sufficient for the purpose here in view; and if the pit have been
occupied in the forcing of asparagus, French beans, or strawberries, on a bark, or bark and dung, or on
a bark and leaf heat, it will require no other preparation than to be stirred up, and have a little fresh
materials added; keeping the fresh bark, dung, or loaves well down, and finishing the bed with some of
th e smallest and best reduced. When it has settled a few days, let it be moulded all over to the thickness
of 12 in. or 15 in . ; previously laying on a little more of the above small materials, in order to keep
th e plants well up to the glass, as th e bed will fall considerably in the settling. It should be formed,
and th e mould should be laid on, in a sloping manner, from back to front, so as io some measure to
correspond with the glasses. All being ready for the plants, they may either be planted in a row in the
middle of the pit, at 2rt. apart, or may be planted in two rows a t 4 ft. ap a rt; o r,if they have been planted,
in nursing, three in a pot, plant in the centre of each light, as dii ected for the common hotbed in March.
Le t them have a little water, and be shaded from the sun for a few days; exposing them to his rays by
degrees. The future management of the plants is like th a t of melons in a hotbed, till September, when
it will be proper to apply fire-heat, in order to furthe r the progress of the late fruit, and to dry off damps.
Le t the fires be made very moderate at first, however, and increase their strength, as the season becomes
more cold and wet. Keep the mercury up to about 70° in the nig h t; and in the day, by the admission
of air, keep it down to about 80° or 75°. Very little water will now suffice for th e plants, as th eir roots
will be fully established, and be spread over the whole bed; th e heat of which will also now have subsided.
They should only, therefore, have a little water once in eight or ten days; and, as the fruit begin
to ripen off, entirely withhold it. Keep th e plants moderately thin of vines and foliage; be careful to
pick off all damped leaves as they appear; and fully expose th e fruit to the sun as it ripens, in the manner
directed for melons in the hotbed. In this manner, I have often had melons in October and November,
fully swelled, and in good, but not, of course, in high perfection, for want of sun to give them flavour
Anv who have a pit of this kind, however, for th e forcing of early vegetables, strawberries, flowers, &c.
cannot, perhaps, occupy it to a better purjiose in the latter part of the season ; as the trouble is but little,
and the expense not worth mentioning.” {Kal.) Pits for this purpose may be heated by steam or hot-
water pipes, instead of flues, according to any of the various plans for so doing which have been given
m a former part of this work.
3283. CuUnrc of melons in M'Phail's brick-hed. The inventor of this pit says, “ for the purpose of
raising melons early, for many years I cultivated them on a brick-bed, on the same construction as that
which 1 invented lor rearing early cucumbers, except only that tiirongh the pit of each three-light
box I carried no cross flues. In each three-light division I miwle the pit about 3 ft. (5 in. wide, and
10 ft. long, and 3 ft. deep below the surface of the flues. When this bed was first set to work, I h.ad
th e pits filled level with the surface of the flues with well fermented dung, or with the dung of old
linings from the cucumber-beds. On the surface of the dung in the pits, I had laid about 10 in. thick
ol good earth, in a ridge of about 20 in. wide, from one end of the pit to the other. When this was
done, I made a lining round the bed, and, as soon as the earth became warm, I set the plants into
the ridge of earth, and gave tliem a little water, and kept a strong heat in the frames, tilling up the pit
gradually as the roots and plants extended themselves. The dung or leaves of trees in the nit require
not to be changed every year, neither need the earth for the plants be removed entirely every season for
by experience I found it to do very well by digging and mixing with it some fresh earth and manure in
winter, and exposing it to the rains, frost, and snow. In forcing melons early, the surface of the cross
flues, as well as of the surrounding or outside ones, should be kept bare of mould till the days in spring
get long, which will let th e heat of the linings arise freely through the covers of the fines to warm the
a ir among the plants. After the cross flues are covered with earth, those which surround each frame
maybe left uncovered till the month of May or Ju n e .” (G. liem., p. (¡4.) The culture in the brick-bed
(3‘2V^-1262 already given for melons in frames, and cucumbers in brick-beds
3284. Culture under hand-glasses. A succession, or late crop, to fruit in August and September, may
be raised on hotbed ridges under haiid-glasse.s.
3285. Sow in a hotbed, from the middle of March to th e middle of April. When the plants have been
up a few days, while in tho seed-leaves, prick some into small pots, two plants in each: water, and plunge
them into th e hotbed ; managing as directed for the young frame plants, till the rough leaves are
from 2 in. to 4 in. long, and ready to shoot into runners. From the middle of March to the third
week of May, when the plants are a month or five weeks old, they will be fit to ridge out under handglasses.
3286. Forming the bed. With well prepared stable-dung, or with a mixture of fermented tree-leaves
build the hotbed 4 ft. wide, and 2^ ft. thick, the length according to the number of glasses intended
allotting th e space of 4 ft. to each. In a week or ten days, or when the dung, or dung and leaves, is
brought to a sweet well-tempered heat, mould the bed 10 in. or 12 in. thick; then place the glasses
along tbe middle, and keep them close till the bed has warmed the earth.
3287. Planting. The same, or next day, insert the plants : turn them out from the pots with th e ball
of earth entire ; and, allotting plants for each glass, insert the ball into the earth clean down over the top,
closing the mould about the stems. Give a little water, and place the glasses over close. The rest is
mere routine.
3288. Crop. Some wil! be ready to cut in July, others in August, the more general time, and in September
; they being generally, after setting, from thirty to forty days in ripening. The crop coming in
a t the decline of summer will not ripen well, unless guarded from cold a t nights, and assisted by linings.
T h e fruit th a t does not ripen may be used as a substitute for mangoes.
3289. Culture on wide ridges. The fruiting-bed may be made 6 ft., 7 ft., or 8 ft. wide, for the plants
to have an ample surface for their extending runners ; defended either by a regular frame and glasses
of proportionate dimensions, or by a case formed of inch-and-half boarding, ranged connectedly along
both sides of the bed, without any internal cross divisions other than top cross-bars, to stay the sides
and support the glasses. {Abercrombie.)
3290. Culture on sloping banks. Williams, of Pitmaston, has for several years been trying to give
increased hardiness to the melon by growing it in the open air. He does not state what varieties he
grows, but his bed(yîg.773.) is placed in the open ground {a a), and is formed of a row of wooden posts,
3 ft. 6 in. high, to the south face of
which boards are nailed (6). The à
surface of th e bed is an inclined
plane, fronting the south ; covered
with slates laid upon the mould,
and not overlajiping. There is
another row of posts {dd), 2 ft. 6 in .
high, to which boards are nailed
on the north face, forming a space
{e e) 3 ft. wide, extending the
whole length of the bed on its
north side, and this is filled with
mowings of grass, weeds, fallen
leaves, haulm, and other refuse
of the garden. The melon-plants
( / ) grow on the inclmed plane,
beneath which is old spent tanners’
bark trodden hard {g), and
over it 9 inches of melon soil.
T h e plants are placed on this bwl in May, under hand-glasses ; the shoots, as they advance, are pegged
down ; fruit is cut in August, and from th at time till the plants are killed by frost in October. {Hort.
Trans., v o l.v . p. 346.)
3201. Insects and diseases. To prevent melon-plants from being infested with insects, or injured by disease
of any kind, no better method can be adopted than to keep the plants constantly in a healthy, vigorous,
growmg state : for this purpose, M'Phail observes, “ they must be constantly attended to, giving
them plenty of heat and water. In warm weather, in the spring and in summer, they should be
watered occasionally all over their fruit and leaves, till the earth in which they grow be thoroughly
moistened ; and a stronger heat than usual kept in the frames about the plants for a few hours ; also the
liglits should be shut down every afternoon, with a good strong heat among tbe plants. If there be
sufficient moisture in the earth, the greatest sun-heat in the afternoon will not h urt the plants, but it
might scorch th e sides of large fruit exposed to the sunbeams operating upon the glass, which should
be guarded against. The frames and lights should be kept clean, and painted over once every other
year.”
3292. Mildew and canker. Melon-plants are subject to be infected and h u rt by the mildew and by the
canker. These diseases come upon them because they are not in a good climate, they have not a sufficiency
of heat, or the dung and earth of the bed is in a stagnated state. Melon-plants are also liable to
be greatly injured by the rod spider, which increases surprisingly in hot dry weather. Nothing will preserve
meîon-plants from the inroads of disease and insects but heat, fresh air, and a sufficiency of wator,
which sweetens the atmosphere, and makes it healthy for vegetables as well as for animals ; and nothing
will effect a cure but good management, strong heat, and plentv of water given all over the plants.
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