THE HEAT AND THE SOIL. 207 
be free of draughts and large leaks. Our melon house 
opens into sheds at both ends, so that no outside air 
ever blows into it; yet even here we lock up the house 
from the time the melons begin to form, to prevent per- 
sons from passing through it. We like to keep the room 
close. It should be capable of being kept dry. There 
should be ample room over the benches for training the 
vines 5 to 6 feet. We use benches, for melons must 
have strong bottom heat. Fig. 71 (page 206) is a view 
in our melon house, taken on the 3rd of October (at this 
time many of the melons were as large as one’s fist), 
the plants having been set in the bench on the 2oth of 
August, and the seeds sown the 2oth of July. For my- 
self, particularly where such high temperatures are 
wanted, I prefer steam heat. A melon house should 
receive direct sunlight through an unshaded roof. In 
this respect melons differ from the English or frame cu- 
cumbers, which generally thrive best under a_ shaded 
roof. The burning of the foliage by the sun is avoided 
by the use of glass which does not possess waves or va- 
rying thicknesses in the panes. The bubbles, flaws and 
“tear drops’? in glass are not the cause of burning. 
Fig. 3 (page 18) shows a cross-section of the house in 
which we have grown melons, and which is also shown 
ingiic 4 7a We. diave used benches;A, .B, and c¢. The 
lower bench, pb, has too littlke head room, and, being 
the lowest, it is too cold for melons. 
The soil should be very fertile. We have had good 
success with clay sod, which had not been manured, 
pulverized and mixed thoroughly with about one-quarter 
the bulk of well-rotted stable manure (but fresh or rank 
manure should not be used). Such a mixture contains 
enough quickly available nitrogen to start the plants off 
strongly, whilst the mechanical condition of it is so fria- 
ble that all the mineral elements are easily obtained by 
the plants. It should be well firmed, after it is placed in 
the bench, by pressing it down with the hands or by 
