AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA 
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349 
OF HORTICULTURE. 
Melon—continued. 
Culture in Frames. Where a quantity of Melons have 
to be supplied, and houses suited for their culture are 
not obtainable, the ordinary pits and frames have, of 
necessity, to be utilised for growing them. In summer, 
this is not difficult, especially with some of the hardier 
sorts; but, in spring, there are many disadvantages in 
not being able to attend to the plants without having 
them exposed to the air. Pits for Melon culture may 
or may not be heated by hot water; in either case, the 
bottom heat is usually supplied by fermenting material, 
into which the roots are allowed to extend. This, and 
the soil, should be prepared, and put in a few days 
before the plants are inserted, in order that rank steam 
may escape, and everything become warmed to a suit- 
able temperature. Some soil should be incorporated 
with the dung on the surface, and small mounds of soil 
alone made where it is intended to plant say, under 
the centre of each sash, if there is sufficient space 
between for the plants to develop. In training Melon 
plants in frames, the points should be pinched out when 
the second or third rough leaf is expanded. Two 
branches will then proceed from the axils of the lower 
leaves; one should be trained towards the front, and 
the other towards the back of the frame. When these 
extremities are nearly reached, pinch out the points again, 
and fruiting laterals will be those next produced. The 
chief aim will then be to get enough flowers fertilised to 
eventually form a crop. This process, called “setting,” is 
generally performed artificially, when the weather is fine, 
and plenty of air can be admitted. It consists in trans- 
ferring dry pollen from the anthers of the male to the 
stigma of the female flowers, when both are in a fully 
expanded state. The operation may be performed by 
means of a camel’s-hair pencil, or by detaching a male 
flower, removing its corolla, and applying the pollen direct. 
It is best to allow only one fruit on a lateral; if more 
are set, they should be removed. When any commence 
swelling with certainty, the lateral on which they are 
growing should be stopped at the point, and a piece of 
slate, or board, placed beneath each fruit, to keep it 
clean. The sub-lateral growths made afterwards must be 
kept somewhat thinned, so as to admit the sun and light 
necessary for perfecting the fruit. 8 
Cultivation in Houses. Although large numbers of 
Melons are grown successfully in frames, superior ac- 
commodation, in every way, is afforded in houses, the 
plants being fully under control for receiving the neces- 
Sary attention. Houses used in winter for forcing or 
plant-growing, may be utilised throughout the spring 
and summer for Melons, if special provision cannot be 
made. For early supplies, small lean-to or half-span 
houses, about 10ft, wide, and facing south, are best 
adapted; and an ample supply of heat should be at 
command. Melons succeed much better with than with- 
out bottom heat. It is sometimes supplied by pipes 
fixed in the bed beneath where they are planted out; 
and, at others, by fermenting material placed to the 
depth of 2ft. or 3ft. Where pipes are in use, they 
should be surrounded with clinkers, or other mate- 
rial, through which the heat may pass readily to the 
soil in which the Melons are grown. This should be 
placed in mounds, not less than 4ft. apart, near the 
centre of the bed, and allowed to remain until thoroughly 
warmed through. The plants, having been previously 
prepared in pots, and not allowed to become starved, 
or infested with insects, may then be inserted, one in 
the middle of each mound, the collar being kept a little 
above the surface, and the soil pressed firmly round the 
roots. A trellis must be provided, about 1ft. from the 
glass, if one is not already fixed, and a stake placed at 
once to each plant, to prevent it getting broken. The 
training of Melons is differently practised in houses to 
what it is in frames. The main shoot is encouraged to 
Melon continued. 
grow nearly to the top of the trellis before being stopped. 
Side shoots, which then appear from the axil of nearly 
every leaf on the main stem, invariably bear female 
blossoms, and it is advisable, before any are fertilised, 
to wait until a sufficient number of these open at one 
time to form the crop. When one or two fruits are 
allowed to take the lead, they swell rapidly, and later 
ones frequently turn yellow, and drop off. About six 
fruits will be enough for plants occupying the space 
above given, and, if this number can be successfully fer- 
tilised about the same time, they will each have a good 
chance of swelling. A support must be placed beneath 
each fruit before it becomes very heavy, to prevent it 
breaking down, or, when getting ripe, becoming detached 
from the stalk, and falling, A small board, with a string 
or wire secured to each corner, for tying to the trellis, 
is a handy method much practised, the boards being 
equally useful for several fruits. Ripening will bo indi- 
cated by the fruit parting from its stalk, changing 
colour, and emitting a strong perfume, not before 
observable. It may then be cut, laid for a time in the 
sun, and afterwards in a cool, airy fruit-room, until 
required for use. The period during which a Melon 
is at its best is a short one, and it is very important 
to know from experience, as near as possible, when this 
period is, and to send the fruit for dessert at the right 
time. Hastening or retarding the ripening process, to 
supply at certain dates, may be accomplished by exposing 
to a higher or lower temperature, which, in either. 
case, should be a somewhat dry one. 
Some growers cultivate Melons, in summer, on what is 
called the extension system, and many of the free-growing 
varieties succeed admirably when thus treated. A large 
house, in which the air is warmed by hot-water pipes, 
and the bed heated similarly, or with fermenting mate- 
rial, is planted with Melons in the usual way, or at 
greater distances apart, the object being to allow a less 
number of plants to grow without much restriction, and 
keep on producing fruits. Thus, if three plants are in- 
serted, the centre one may be cropped and removed, and 
the others allowed to occupy the space n 3 or 
the two permanent ones only may be inserted at 
Watering, so far as is requisite, must be continued, 
and — more freely when successional fruits 
are being fertilised. It would be well for the inex- 
perienced to try this plan before generally adopting 
it, as the treatment a plants e ret ape 
tion, watering, and o details, must, ‘course, | 
different Sbi the same house contains fruits in the 
several stages of flowering, swelling, and ripening. 
advantage claimed is the larger, more juicy, and highly- 
about 75deg., either inside a dung frame or in a 
heated house. In the early part of the Ds 
young plants must be very carefully treated, by pa ly 
exposing them to light before there is a possibility 0 
their getting drawn. Later on in the season, as the days 
lengthen, they grow more strongly from the first. A light 
shading should be temporarily applied in hot weather, 
to prevent flagging ; but Melons bear a good deal of sun 
without injury, if properly watered and ventilated. The 
temperature of the Melon house or pit, in spring, may 
be from 60deg. to 65deg. by night, with a rise of 
y. Air must be very cautiously admitted 
March and April, and the house or pit shut 
up early on bright days, to take advantage of the 
1 heat. If the latter raises the temperature after 
