18 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



than any light soil possibly can ; the depth of soil, whether it is 

 placed over a common dune;-bed, or if the warmth is supplied by a 

 hot-water apparatus, should not in either case be less than a foot, 

 or exceed eighteen inches, and the whole may be placed in a frame 

 at once, or added at intervals, as convenience may dictate. The 

 temperature of a newly- planted bed should average 80° at bottom 

 or among the soil, with a surface heat of 65° at night, rising to 75° 

 or 80° in the day. Of course a proportionate amount of moisture 

 must be present, and the best evidence of the most desirable quantity 

 will be given in a deposit of dew-drops round the edges of the foliage, 

 when the lights are uncovered in the morning ; so long as this is 

 observed and it is afterwards dried off in the course of the day, the 

 cultivator may rest assured his plants are progressing favourably. 

 The vine or stem should not be stopped till it has grown nearly to 

 the extent of the space allotted to it, and has begun to throw out 

 lateral branches ; it is these that will bear the future fruit, and as 

 soon as female blossoms are expanded, they should be carefully 

 fertilized with the pollen from the male flowers. They are easily 

 distinguished from the other by the embryo fruit attached to the 

 former. Male flowers are usually produced first; those which open 

 before there is a probability of the expansion of the other class may 

 be taken off to economize the vigour of the plants. 



"When fruit is beginning to swell, the shoot on which it is 

 growing should be foreshortened, by pinching off the terminal bud, 

 and removing all other younger fruit, leaving nothing on the branch 

 but the principal one, and about two leaves beyond it. Such 

 branches as do not promise to bear fruit, should be cut back to 

 within two or three joints of their origin, that they may protrude 

 other branches likely to be fruitful, and by judicious management in 

 this respect a very good second crop may' be obtained from the same 

 vine. 



There is a considerable difference in the fruitfulness of the 

 various kinds ; some of the larger sorts do not set more than two or 

 three fruit, while others will bear five or six times that number. 

 Half-a-dozen may be considered a fair crop of ordinary-sized melons 

 from a single plant, and it is not advisable to leave a much greater 

 number, even though they should be produced, as, in the case of an 

 excessively heavy crop, the flavour will, in all probability, be dete- 

 riorated. 



One of the greatest difficulties opposing the progress of these 

 plants, especially of the middle and later crops, is the destructive 

 attacks of red spider, so common in hot weather. To guard against 

 this every endeavour must be made to keep a damp atmosphere 

 about the plants up to the time the fruit is just ripening ; the whole 

 of the foliage should be sprinkled over every evening in dry weather, 

 and liberal applications of water to the roots must be frequently 

 given, and even then the insects will sometimes make their appear- 

 ance. As soon as they are observed, the underside of the leaves on 

 which they are, should be dusted over with sulphur, and in the 

 middle of the afternoon the beds should be watered, and the lights 

 shut close, in order, by raising the temperature, to create a vapour 



