Bed 1. Superphosphate of lime and sulphate of potash. 2. turned turf. 3. Mack, 

 neutralised by potash. 4. jlshes. 5. This bed was left without any mineral addition. 

 They were mulched with long litter. The melons grown were nutmeg. 



Note of lAth of Soptembsr. — No. 1 exhibited the greatest number of large melons; 2 

 and 3 were the earliest to offer ripe fruit; 5 the latest; 2 produced melons grouped in beau- 

 tiful clusters, more numerous for the space covered than the others; 3 and 4 gave larger 

 samples than the others. 



Note oj 28th of September. — 1. Superphosphate of lime and sulphate of potash. This 

 plot has afforded the largest amount of melons of full size, and contains most at present, 

 matured and maturing. 



No. 2. Burned turf. — The clusters have been closer than either of the others; the 

 total amount less than the one above. 



No. 3. Muck neutralised by potash. — This plot has produced an amount of melons equal 

 to No. 2; nearly all have been matured for some days, evidentl}'- exceeding all the others 

 in this respect. 



No. 4. Ashes. — This bed has exhibited the greatest number of very large melons; has 

 not equaled No. 1 in productiveness. 



No. 5. Soil without mineral manure. — The melons of this bed appear to be intermediate 

 to No. 1 and 4 as to size; to No. 2 and 3 as to productiveness. 



It would seem, therefore, that melons of No. 1 excelled in size, quantity and lateness ; 

 those of No. 3 in the early maturing of the entire crop ; and those of No. 4 and 5 in the 

 size of select specimens ; in their productiveness, being inferior to No. 1 in number. 



My own taste preferred the flavor oi the melons grown in No. 1 and 3, where superphos- 

 phate of lime and sulphate of potash, and humate or gyate of potash, exercised their spe- 

 cific influence. 



Specimens, however, corresponding with these beds and dates, were sent to my neigh- 

 bor, Mr. Downing, and his practised judgment will be most satisfactory, touching the 

 important question whether inorganic manures can modify the flavor of melons. 



1850. — Holes were dug in two feet trenched ground, and hills formed similar to those 

 of the present year, with this exception, that old manure was applied in place of guano. 

 Beds were composed of — potash in muck — ashes in muck — burned turf — superphosphate 

 of lime — superphosphate of lime and sulphate of potash — sulphate of soda in muck — salt 

 and lime mixture, and poudrette. 



The melons fed by humate of potash exceeded in number, size and flavor ; those by pou- 

 drette equalled the previous in number and size ; and those by superphosphate of lime, 

 and lime and sulphate of potash, equalled the first in flavor, and approached the two pre- 

 vious in size. 



1851. — The experiments were repeated the present year; but illness at the time most es- 

 sential to an opinion, interfered with any accurate conclusions. My gardener, however, 

 renders a decided preference to the product of the beds modified by the preparations of 

 potash and superphosphate of lime. 



Hybridizing. — The sensitiveness of the delicate Persian melons in the open air has in- 

 terfered with their cultivation in this country. To harden and acclimate them, I made ex- 

 periments of cross-breeding with our ordinary melons, during the last year, and with to- 

 lerable success. The flowers of Borneo were fertilized with the pollen of Green Iloosia- 

 nee. Melons were produced of the precise form of the Green Hoosianee, with the color 

 of the Borneo; their flesh possessing the fine fibre and tenderness of the Hoosianee, and in 

 a partial degree, the flavor of the Borneo. The cross-breeding was extended to Polignac 



