68 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



the hills is secured in the first instance, by a foundation of rubble, 

 and soft tepid loater is always employed, and the bottom-heat is right, 

 melons will enjoy more moisture than they usually obtain, and in 

 return for it will give heavier crops and finer fruit. 



Tlie plants must be allowed to spread until they reach within 

 six inches of the side of the frame, and then the point of every 

 shoot must be pinched out. It may be remembered, however, that 

 if they are never stopped at all, they will just as surely fruit, but 

 judicious stopping causes a more plentiful production and more 

 equable distribution of those secondary shoots on which the i'ruit is 

 produced. It is customary to " set '' the female tiowers with farina 

 from the males, but we have always found the crop to be as good in 

 a bed where we never " set " a single flower, as in one that was 

 most punctually and carefully attended to. AV^e give the bees the 

 credit of taking this task off our hands, for they are assiduous 

 workers amongst melons and cucumbers. 



In due time the fruit will appear, and the cultivator must have 

 the courage to refuse nature's generous offer of many more fruits 

 than the plants can ripen properly. As soon as a fair crop is set, 

 persist in suppressing the flowers as they appear, and stop every 

 fruit-bearing shoot at about four eyes beyond the fruit. And what 

 is a fair crop ? it may be asked. A large sort, such as Beechwood, 

 may be allowed to carry half-a-dozen fruit, and a smaller sort, such 

 as Scarlet Gem, may carry nine. 



As the fruits swell, keep the plants going with a good heat and 

 liberal watering, and if the leaves appear yellowish through having 

 exhausted the hillock, water twice a week with guano water, made 

 by adding half an ounce of guano to every gallon of soft water. If 

 the roots run upon the surface much, cover them with a dressing of 

 fresh soil at the rate of about a barrow-full to every hillock, taking 

 ^reat care not to bruise the stems or the leaves in the operation. 

 As the fruits acquire their full size, discontinue syringing, and 

 lessen the supply of water at the roots, and give air freely, but be 

 careful the heat does not go down, for melons must be ripened in a 

 good heat to have proper tenderness and flavour. Every fruit 

 should from the first rest on a tile or slate, unless the plants are 

 trained to a trellis. They must not be cut the instant they have 

 acquired their proper colour, or they will be comparatively worth- 

 less ; the signal for removing them is when they emit a powerful 

 odour, and after being removed they should be kept a few days 

 before they are cut for eating. 



The two melons here figured are the hardiest of the family, and 

 well adapted for frame culture. We grew fine crops of these last year 

 by a very cheap and simple method. We had a lot of coarse waste hay 

 not good enough to feed a donkey, and this we converted into ferment- 

 ing material. It was spread and sprinkled to form a large bed, and 

 the soil was put on in hillocks, and the frames were put in their 

 places and shut up close. In the course of a few days there was a 

 nice heat rising, and we sowed two or three seeds on every hill. The 

 plants soon appeared, and we allowed only one of the Little Heath 

 to each light, and two of the Queen Anne's Pocket. There they 



