166 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ August 28, 1866. 



the rafters will afford those beneath them an agreeable shade 

 and the latter will produce larger fruit, though not so well fla- 

 voured. In certain cold seasons the heat of the sun may not 

 be sufficient to maintain a proper temperature within the 

 house, a little artificial heat must then be given, and in cer- 

 tain cold districts a little of such heat may at all times be 

 required ; but in most seasons and localities Melons of good 

 size and flavour may be obtained in unheated houses, by 

 husbanding the sun heat, and providing a structure having 

 a large surface of glass as compared with that of the wood. 



My attention was first directed to the cultivation of the 

 Melon in unheated houses from finding a plant spring up 

 almost spontaneously in a frame used for an early crop. It 

 had no heat whatever beyond that of the sun, and very little 

 attention, yet it grew so as to fill two lights, and produced 

 four fruits weighing upwards of 2 lbs. each. The kind was the 

 Egyptian, which when well grown may be taken as a standard 

 of excellence for a green-fleshed Melon. Since then I have 

 grown Melons in cool structures heated by catching the sun's 

 rays, and I do not hesitate to say that Melons can be grown in 

 cold frames if the plants are strong and planted out in good 

 time. Let the fruit be set in July, or by the middle of August, 

 and then a crop quite equal if not superior to such as are ob- 

 tained in heated structures will be the result. Abercrombie 

 speaks of growing Melons in paper frames, and I know them to 

 have been grown in England with the simple protection of a 

 hand-glass ; but though the climate of England is no colder 

 than it was formerly, it is certain that we now grow kinds 

 totally unsuited for such treatment. To grow Melons success- 

 fully, with certainty, and to the highest degree of perfection, 

 they require artificial heat, except in the hot summer months, 

 and then care must be taken to husband the sun heat as much 

 as practicable. 



The properties of a Melon I think should be — 1st, it should 

 not weigh less than 1 lb. 2nd, it should be netted regularly 

 all over, and the more so the better. 3rd, the rind should be 

 free from furrows, or be perfectly spherical or elliptical without 

 any indentations, though flattened at the two ends. -1th, the 

 flesh should be thick, and be eatable quite to the rind, and be 

 melting, sweet, and piquant. 5th, the core should be small, 

 and easily divided from the flesh. 6th, the seeds should be 

 few, and not mingled with the flesh. In constitution the plant 

 should be hardy, vigorous, and productive. In judging a 

 Melon the points may be — flavour six, appearance two, thick- 

 ness of flesh two, core small and seeds not mingling with the 

 flesh two, or twelve points to constitute a good Melon. No 

 fruit under 1} lb. to be eligible for a prize, nor size above 

 that to be taken into consideration, unless the fruits be equal 

 as regards flavour, when, of course, all points being equal, pre- 

 ference would be given to a large Melon. It is very rarely, in- 

 deed, that a large Melon is equal in flavour to one not half the 

 Eize. 



Varieties. — I have found the following thebest of the scarlet- 

 fleshed class : — 



Scarlet Gem. — A standard of excellence, being of a fair size, 

 finely netted, spherical in shape, and of the finest flavour. It 

 is early and prolific. Plant hardy, and though small in foliage 

 & free grower. 



Cantaloupe. — Of this the variety known as the Early Royal 

 is the best. Lawrence's variety is very fine. These are chiefly 



desirable on account of their earliness. The fruit is spherical 

 and much ribbed, too much so to be handsome. 



Binncll's Scarlet flesh. — The fruit is elliptical, much ribbed, 

 very prolific. The plant is of slender growth, though by no 

 means tender. It is a fine variety for preserving, and very 

 good for dessert. 



Princess Alire. — Much resembling Scarlet Gem, spherical 

 finely netted, flesh thick, and not so firm as that of Scarlet 

 Gem, melting and excellent. 



Prince Imperial. — Simply a red-fleshed Beechwood, elliptical. 



Queen Victoria. — A scarlet-fleshed Bromham Hall, fine, 

 spherical. 



Lady Sefioni — Fine. 



Empress Eugenie. — Finely netted, and good flavoured, 

 spherical. 



Scarlet Perfection. — Large and much ribbed, juicy and rich, 

 but would be finer without the ribs. 



MounsdetCs Moretm Hall. — Of fine flavour, and good shape. 

 I have not grown this variety, but I think it very desirable. 



Of green-fleshed kinds : — 



Gulden Perfection. — Elliptical, beautifully netted, and very 

 handsome, flavour good. 



Egyptian. — Spherical, ribbed, netted, and fine flavoured. 

 One of the best in that respect. 



Bromham Hall. — Fruit handsome, and most excellent. 



Treutham Hybrid. — Egg-shaped, smooth skin, delicious 

 flavour. 



Meredith's Hybrid Cashmere. — Handsome, and of the most 

 delicious flavour-. To my thinking the finest Melon in cul- 

 tivation. 



(Irion. — Early and fine, large fruit. 



Beechwood. — An old, but excellent-flavoured Melon. 



Trentliam Cocoa-nut. — Fine. 



I have had experience with upwards of a hundred varieties 

 of Melons, but have not found any to equal those named. 



Diseases. — The plant going off at the collar is the most 

 serious. It is occasioned by the collar not being sufficiently 

 high to cause the water to drain from, not to it, by wetting that 

 part in watering, and by keeping it covered with leaves, and, 

 therefore, deprived of light and air. The preventives are to 

 plant on a cone so that the water may drain from the collar, to 

 keep the stem clear of side branches and foliage for a space of 

 at least 6 inches from the root-stem, and not to wet that part 

 in watering. When once this disease has commenced there is 

 I no remedy, it is a disease that cannot be arrested, though it 

 may be kept partly in check by clearing the leaves away that 

 shade the part, and rubbing it with quicklime until it becomes 

 dry. Quicklime may then be placed against the stem so as to 

 cover the part affected, removing the lime every four or five 

 days, and, after rubbing the decayed part away until it becomes 

 dry, placing fresh lime around it. This will keep in check the 

 fungus which accompanies the decay, but beyond this it is 

 certain that no application can arrest for any considerable 

 period a decay which has taken firm hold of an annual plant, 

 though by adopting remedial measures it may be retarded long 

 enough fcr the fruit to arrive at perfection. 



Melons are also liable to a kind of gangrene or gout. It con- 

 sists of an exudation from the stems, and is of a bright brown 

 colour, for though white at first it afterwards changes colour 

 just as the juices of a cut branch turn brown or red on ex- 

 posure to the atmosphere. This disease is chiefly brought on 

 by growing the plants in very rich soil, and after allowing a 

 large expansion of foliage reducing it all at once veiy much. 

 This causes the stems to be gorged with the food absorbed by 

 the roots, which the leaves are unable to elaborate, hence the 

 vessels become ruptured and the sap bursts through the skin 

 of the stem, occasionally splitting it open between the joints. 

 This disease never, to my knowledge, attacks plants grown in 

 moderately rich soil, when the head is kept in due proportion 

 to the root, and all prunings are confined to stopping the 

 shoots by pinching out their points, and thinning out the shoots 

 proportionately with their increase in another part. When 

 grown in rich soil it is not unusual to find the plants gan- 

 grened along the stems, for then the amount of nutriment taken 

 up by the roots being mors than the plant can assimilate it 

 finds' a way of escape through the stems. The fruit formed is 

 generally large if the plant lives to perfect it (the plant fre- 

 quently dies when the fruit is about three-parts swelled), the 

 flesh is hard, the flavour poor, and most of the seeds abortive. 

 To avoid gangrene grow the plants on a more natural principle, 

 do not use the same soil twice, and encourage no more growths 

 than are necessary for obtaining and perfecting a crop of fruit. 



