MONTHLY CALENDAR. 2S9 



been well turned and beaten down in the process of making, this will hardly 

 be necessary. If the frame is not put on at once, however, it is advisable to 

 cover the bed with litter or mats, in case of heavy rains, which would reduce 

 the temperature of the bed. After the frame is on, place about a bushel of 

 loamy soil under the centre of each light — too much soil at once would induce 

 too much heat. It is an old-fashioned but safe plan to thrust a pointed stick 

 into the bed. By drawing it out occasionally, the temperature of the bed can be 

 ascertained by feehng it : if more exactness is desired, a ground thermometer 

 might be plunged into it. If the plants have been raised in a temporary bed, 

 they may be planted five or six days after the bed is made : they will thus be 

 ready to start into active growth at once. If no plants are read}'', sov/ two 

 seeds each in 3-inch pots, only half-filled with soil at first, and add fresh soil 

 as the plants grow. The soil in which they are to grow should be rather 

 coarse, and by no means sifted. The after-treatment is the same as that 

 described in January. 



793. Melons. — This is also a good time to make up hotbeds for melons, to 

 ripen in June and July. The soil should be put into the frame at once to the 

 depth of 8 or 10 inches, and trodden or pressed rather firmly, if the dung has 

 been carefully turned and the bed well beaten down in the making. Two plants 

 should be planted under each light, the vines radiating from the centre ; or 

 place them further apart, and train the vines back and front, picking off all 

 superfluous soil, and leaving only sufficient to nourish the fruit. Where a 

 cucumber or melon-bed is in full operation, the other seeds may be sown in 

 pots, and placed in them ; and when up, repotted, and grown till the beds 

 destined for them are ready : a great saving of time and material is thus 

 effected. Where a good sort is growing, which it is desired to increase, it 

 may either be done by plunging some pots filled with soil, and laying shoots 

 of the vines into them, or by taking off cuttings, and placing three or four 

 round the edge of a pot : they will strike root readily in about the time it 

 takes to raise plants from seed, and bear rather quicker than seedlings. 



794. At this time, as formerly, dung-beds must be lined with prepared 

 dung, to maintain the heat ; for any decline below the point of safety, which is 

 about 70°, will check the growth of the plants, and throw them back con- 

 siderably. This applies to the culture ot cucumbers and melons, and of 

 forcing plants generally ; but, in the case of plants which are to be turned out 

 later in the season, it is necessary to inure them, by a gradual decrease in 

 that of the frame, to the natural temperature of the air. 



795. Vegetable Marrows are sown thickly in pots, and placed in a cucumber 

 or melon-frame. When up, they are separated and planted out, two or three 

 in a 4-inch pot, where they may either continue till their final planting out, or 

 separated again, and potted singly, to prevent their getting pot-bound. At 

 the end of March, or early in April, plant them out on a bed of manure of 

 sufiBcient heat to start them, covering them with hand-glasses. In May plant 

 them out, without any such stimulus, on ridges in the open ground. Tomatoes 

 and Capsicums are raised in the same manner. They may be planted out 



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