54 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



this up with sonic rough bins. Fill one 

 with turfy-loam and dung when well 

 amalgamated, as directed above ; another 

 with the old cow-dung ; another with 

 some good peat, not obtained anywhere 

 or anyhow, but well selected, from its 

 containing abundance of vegetable fibre. 

 Now, here are the foundations for com- 

 post to grow anything in. Some will say 

 I have omitted leaf-mould. Much as it 

 will surprise many to hear it, I have no 

 hesitation in saying I dislike it. I have 

 always found it at every age the home of 

 grubs and their larvaj, and I never find 

 the plants root in it as well as in a propor- 

 tion of such peat as the above-mentioned. 

 Let no one be deterred by imagining that 

 the above arrangements will involve much 



expense, or be offensive to the eye of neat- 

 ness. A few rough fir-poles will form the 

 shed, and a very little contrivance will 

 make it ornamental as well as useful, — 

 covered, as it may be, by a honeysuckle 

 or a rose. When once a stock is obtained 

 the florist will be sure to have his bins re- 

 plenished as they are exhausted ; and no 

 one that knows the comfort and advantage 

 of having a variety of soils ready for mix- 

 ing for immediate use would give up the 

 plan. I should add, that a stock of the 

 sharpest, cleanest silver-sand that can be 

 obtained should be at hand, and if kept 

 covered over so much the better, especially 

 if the spot be frequented by cats. 



E. Deck. 



OUT-DO OE MELONS. 



" Cut your garment according to your 

 cloth." Good. But, while we strictly 

 follow this golden precept, there is nothing 

 to prevent our cutting out as useful and 

 as handsome a garment as the size and the 

 quality of our cloth will allow. Now, 

 times and seasons are the web out of 

 which that clever tailor, Man, contrives 

 to carve and put together a number of 

 ornamental and commodious accessories, 

 which are to his household arrangements 

 and his material welfare in general what 

 the clothes he wears are to the screening 

 and the decoration of his person. To dif- 

 ferent men, different lengths and breadths 

 of cloth have been given, some with a 

 broad margin, some with hardly any mar- 

 gin at all. But if I, out of the material 

 afforded by an ordinary (not an inclement) 

 summer, and the open ground, can con- 

 trive to fashion vestments, or agreeable 

 articles to set on my table, which have 

 hitherto been confined to my richer neigh- 

 bours, who have the artificial summer and 

 climate of frames and hotbeds at their 

 command, surely a little credit will be 

 given me for the ambitious attempt, if 

 successful. It has been successful. The 

 particular item which, last spring, I set 

 my heart upon cutting out of my limited 

 allowance of cloth, was a handsome, well- 

 flavoured melon, grow n out of doors in 

 the open ground. From quite a small 

 space, I cut forty, the large majority of 

 excellent quality, and the faults of the 

 minority depending more upon the infe- 

 riority of the special variety grown than 

 upon defective ripening. 



This is a great innovation in melon- 

 culture, which, it is to be hoped, will find 

 imitators. It is founded on the two prin- 

 ciples — first, that the melon-plant is ca- 

 pable of more vigorous growth than is 

 commonly supposed. The prevailing no- 

 tion is, that the melon is a plant of exces- 

 sive tenderness and delicacy. It is so, as 

 we usually see it treated. According to 

 routine gardeners, the plant must be shut 

 up in a box with a glass lid, and be baked, 

 steamed, and smothered night and day, 

 till it is as much like what a melon-plant 

 could and should be, as a boa-constrictor 

 at a fair in a chest and a blanket is like a 

 boa-constrictor at large in a tropical forest. 

 The truth is, that the melon, when not 

 amputated and vapour-bathed to death, is 

 just as hardy as the cucumber and the 

 gourd ; that is, it is not hardy at all. The 

 slightest frost will kill any and either of 

 them ; it is equally impatient with them 

 of excessive humidity, especially if com- 

 bined with chilly weather. As Loudon 

 says, it is a tender annual ; so are the 

 others. Treat it like them, and it will 

 equally display its rampant growth and its 

 abundant fructification. Subject a melon- 

 plant to the same free-and-easy and let- 

 alone culture as you do a ridge-cucumber, 

 or a pumpkin, and it will astonish you. 

 And this leads us to principle the second, 

 namely, that we ought to humour Nature, 

 instead of thwarting her. We may direct, 

 encourage, support, and aid Nature ; but 

 it must always be by consulting her, and 

 letting her have her own way to a certain 

 extent. Now, the whole cucurbitaceous 



