MEL 



371 



MEL 



MELISSA. Balm. Four species. 

 Hardy herbaceous perennials. Division. 

 Common soil. 



MELITTA melis-tophyUum and two 

 varieties. Hanly herbaceous perennials. 

 Division. Common soil. 



MELOC ACTUS. Melon thistle. 

 Fourteen species. Stove evergreen 

 shrubs. Offsets. Sandy peat. 



MELODINUS. Two species. Stove 

 evergreen twiners. Cuttings. Loam 

 and peat. 



MELOLONTHA, the Cockchafer. 



M. vulgaris. Common Cockchafer. 



M. hortkolo. May-Bug, or Bracken- 

 clock. Feeds upon the leaves of the 

 Raspberry and Rose. Mr. Curtis justly 

 observes, that — " When the roses are 

 in full bloom in May, these beetles 



termed, is more economical, and by 

 enabling a more regular temperature to 

 be sustained, renders the fruit in great- 

 er perfection. The pit is a rectangular 

 frame or bin, built of nine inch brick- 

 work, in preference to boards, which 

 have to be renewed every five or sn 

 years, if employed and enclosed by a 

 glass case of the necessary dimensions. 

 Mr. Smith, gardener to A. Keith, Esq., 

 of Ravelstone, N. B., has suggested a 

 mode of building a pit which renders 

 the renewal of the heat in it easy ; and 

 as the committee appointed to examine 

 it report, is the means of considerable 

 saving compared with the common 

 mode of forming an open bed. But the 

 facility with which linings may be ap- 

 plied is its best feature ; for if by any 



sometimes do very extensive mischief chance the heat failed, there was seldom 



to the flowers, by eating out the anthers 

 and consuming the petals. Having de- 

 posited about a hundred eggs in the 

 earth, the female dies, and the larva; 

 hatch and commence their attacks upon 

 the roots of the grass. It is stated, that 

 they are feeding three years, and they 

 reside about an inch beneath the turf; 

 but as winter approaches, they retire 

 deeper into the earth ; and even in 

 November, when frost has set in, they 

 have buried themselves a spade deep. 

 The larva; are rather active and can 

 walk tolerably well, dragging their bo- 

 dies after them ; they lie, however, 

 generally curved up in the shape of a 

 horse-shoe; the head is deep, ochreous 

 and destitute of eyes. The body is 

 ochreous white with a few brown hairs. 

 To kill these larvs, water the grass in 

 the autumn with one-tenth gas liquor 

 to two-tenths svater, it will do no mi 



any alternative in the old pits but to 

 break them up. 



The accompanying sketch will at 

 once show the form of the pit, and Mr. 

 Smith's mode of applying the linings. 

 A is the pit the side of which a a in- 

 stead of being a continuous piece of 



Fiff. 9S. 



brick-work are merely rows of pillars 

 six feet apart; and the brick-work of 

 the frame 6 6 is supported by bars of 

 iron reaching from pillar to pillar. An 



.^ _ .._ _ outer wall, c c, is constructed at two 



chief to the grass, but will extirpate j and a half feet distance from the pillars 



these miners. Where the gas liquor 

 cannot be obtained, employ strong salt 

 water." — Card. Chron. 



MELON. Cucumis meJo. 



Varieties. — There are many varieties 

 of the Melon of which the Nutmeg may 



on each side ; thus two bins are formed 

 in which the linings are inserted, as is 

 found necessary, and are kept close 

 covered with thick boards ; d represents 

 the lights, which thus are formed with- 

 out any wooden frames. For other 



be considered as the type ; it and the modes of construction, see P;y,s, (^-c. If 



Citron are, however, the most desirable, 

 which have come under our observa- 

 tion. The mode of out-door culture 

 is very similar to that of the cucumber; 

 they delight in light land well manured ; 

 are quite tender, and should not he 

 planted untd all fear of frost has ceased 



a common hot-bed is employed, fifteen 

 barrow loads of dung is the usual al- 

 lowance to each light, which make it 

 about six inches higher than is allowed 

 for the cucumber bed of largest dimen- 

 sions. If a melon house be employed, 

 the following is the form and mode 



To force Melons. — Although a com- I adopted by Mr. Fleming. 

 mon hot-bed is generally used for this j " The house is twenty-eight feet lonp, 

 plant, yet a pit, as it is technically | and fifteen wide, and is heated by 



