56 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



moved to the windows, (inside of course) 

 to enjoy the sunshine, and their place on 

 the stove is taken by successional pots. 

 There is a fire in the room every day. 

 When the real leaves appear between the 

 cotyledons, the pots are removed to a 

 south border (weather permitting), to be 

 brought forward and gradually inured to 

 air and light under bell-glasses, which are 

 slightly tilted by day, but let down closely 

 at night. A bast mat or a piece of sail- 

 cloth to cover them is a wise precaution 

 against slight morning frosts. Plants so 

 reared are less weakly and drawn than 

 those out of hotbeds. A Waltonian case 

 would raise melon-plauts to any reason- 

 able extent ; but however raised, the 

 plants must be hardened by accustoming 

 them to as much light and air as they can 

 possibly bear. We thus arrive at the 

 middle of May, having in hand a good 

 stock of robust melon-plants, destined for 

 out-door culture, to which they are to 

 be gradually habituated. It is by no 

 means intended to turn them suddenly out 

 of doors, plunging them into the raw 

 spring air, as a bather takes his dip in the 

 sea. 



As to sorts, the very large kinds of 

 the French market gardens, such as the 

 ribbed Honfleur, are the least desirable. 

 The fruit is longer in completing its 

 growth, and the quality is but second- 

 rate. All the smaller Cantaloups, such as 

 the Noir des Carmes, the little Prescott, 

 and the Silver Cantaloup, answer well. 

 The best flavoured melon I have grown 

 is the Orange Cantaloup, a variety also 

 called by old French gardeners the JlJal 

 Fichu, or badly dressed ; because, on the 

 same plant which will give you a melon of 

 perfect shape, round and ribbed, there will 

 be also deformed or odd • shaped fruits, which 

 look as if their growth had been strangled 

 by a string tied round their middle, and 

 which, though less pretty to look at, are 

 not less good to eat. Observe that the 

 flavour of out-door melons, properly 

 ripened, is superior to that of those from 

 frames. There are also quite small melons, 

 some called American, others the Boule de 

 Siam, and Queen Anne's Pocket Melon, 

 which are worth growing. They may 

 even be trained against, a south wall like a 

 vine. The amateur 1 e-d not be afraid to 

 try melons of the Persian family ; the 

 Moscatello, received through Italy, gives 

 satisfactory results. The moderate size of 

 most of this subdivision helps their early 

 ripening, and when ripe they are deli- 

 cious. 



The melon is not over nice as to soil. 



Give it two-thirds well-rotted manure and 

 one-third good fresh sweet loam, and 

 plenty of them, to grow in, and it will 

 flourish. It must not be placed in a con- 

 dition at all resembling that of a pot- 

 bound plant. It is said not to thrive in 

 soil in which its predecessors have grown 

 during previous years. As a rule, let the 

 soil be stiff rather than sandy, well 

 manured, and of considerable depth and 

 mass. I have grown a melon in a mig- 

 nonette box ; but the experiment did not 

 turn out an example to follows 



Your plants being raised and ready, it 

 is time to think of their final destination. 

 Towards the close of Aprd, make several 

 conical hillocks, disposed either in rows 

 or in quincunx order, according to the 

 convenience of your ground, so that their 

 centres shall be five feet apart every way, 

 and their perpeudicular height, when 

 finished and planted, two feet above the 

 level of the soil. Two or three hillocks 

 will be enough, as a first trial, to convince 

 you of the merits of the plan ; and you 

 will do well to reserve a portion of your 

 space for out-door melons to be grown 

 experimentally, otherwise than on the hil- 

 lock system, of which a hint will be given. 

 It ought to be needless to state that, as 

 the plan here recommended is no myste- 

 rious charlatanism, an inch or two more 

 or less in the size and height of your hil- 

 locks is of no consequence. The basis of 

 each hillock is a hole, round or square, dug 

 in the ground, half a yard in diameter, 

 and eight inches deep. The holes are then 

 filled, and the hillocks are built up with, 

 either well-rotted manure or the compost 

 above mentioned, carefully piled and 

 stacked into shape and beaten together, in 

 order that they may sink or settle as little 

 as possible, and that they may retain their 

 form and elevation until the month of Oc- 

 tober. When your hillocks are nicely 

 made and rounded, cover them to the 

 depth of six or seven inches with a stra- 

 tum of earth rich in vegetable mould, 

 stiffish rather than light, and prepared, if 

 possible, a year beforehand. If your soil 

 for this outer coating is too compact and 

 clayey, mix it with old leaf-mould, or 

 better, with heath-mould, until it is fri- 

 able without being light. In default of 

 earth thus prepared, good kitchen-garden 

 mould will do. The melon-ground is now 

 ready to receive its inmates. 



In the middle of May, or earlier as a 

 venture, slightly level the tops of your 

 hillocks, so as to make a little platform on 

 their summit ; in the middle of the plat- 

 form gepop out a round hole, and in it 



