MEL 



Fig. 99. 



372 



MEL 



means of a saddle boiler, with four-inch 

 pipes passing round the outside of the 

 pit, which pipes are fitted with cast-iron 

 troughs for holding water to regulate 

 the moisture of the atmosphere. Be- 

 neath the pit is an arched chamber, a, 



along the front of whicli runs the flue, '\ three or four inches deep 

 h, imparting a slight degree of heat to i ing is best performed twice, four or five 

 the soil above, and also serving to heat , days elapsing before the second inser- 

 a series of arches, c, which run along tion ; this guards as much as possible 

 beneath the path, and are entered from against failure. The pots should be 

 a house in front, d, and which are used > plunged by degrees, and not at once 



sowing before February is well ad- 

 vanced, and more risk of failure incur- 

 red. On the average, fifteen weeks 

 elapse; on the shortest and coldest 

 days of winter eighteen ; and as the 

 spring advances it decreases to eleven 

 or twelve; these periods necessarily 

 varying in different years. The mode 

 of sowing, managing the seedlings, 

 pricking out, &c., being the same as 

 with the cucumber, only that a few de- 

 grees higher temperature is required, I 

 refer the reader to that head. The pots 

 in which the seed is sown should be 

 Each sow- 



for forcing rhubarb, &c., in the winter. 

 — Gard. Chron. 



Mr. Green has published the follow- 

 ing excellent mode of heating a melon 

 pit with hot water : — 



The annexed figure represents a 



down to the rim. Those for pricking 

 into must be about five inches in di- 

 ameter. The first stopping.is usually 

 performed in the seed-beds. 



Ridging out. — The soil must be two 

 feet deep, and the plants inserted in the 



section of the pit: 1, 1, are the flow ! centre of each light, care being taken to 

 pipes and the water troughs; 3, the ' remove them with as little injury as pos- 

 pipes to fill the troughs; 4, the pipe by I sible to the roots. The removal should 

 which the water is let outof the troughs; take place soon after the attainment of 



the bed for the plants ; and G, the 

 trellis on which the shoots are trained." 



Fig. 100. 





Time and Mode of Sowing. — Seed 

 may be sown about the middle of Jan- 

 uary; but the usual time is about the 

 same period of the succeeding month, 

 or not even until its close, if severe 

 weather; to be repeated towards the 

 end of March, and lastly in the first 

 weeks of April and May. The length 

 of time between the sowing and cutting, 

 depends chiefly upon the variety em- 

 ployed. But little time is gained by 



the rough leaves, or immediately on the 

 appearance of the lateral runners. If 

 the bed is not ready, those from the 

 earth of the seed-beds must be moved 

 into pots, and those already in them 

 turned into larger ones, from whence 

 they may be finally removed without 

 detriment; one plant only should be 

 allowed to remain, for no more are re- 

 quired for each light. Water must be 

 given with the precautions enumerated 

 for cucumbers, and especial care taken 

 not to wet the foliage, or to apply it too 

 abundantly, and repeated two or three 

 times until the plants are establish- 

 ed. When completely rooted, the 

 bed may be earthed by degrees to its 

 full depth, sixteen inches; it being first 

 added immediately round the cones, 

 and pressed moderately firm as it is laid 

 on. The pruning and training must be 

 performed as in cucumbers, and the 

 same precautions taken to admit air and 

 light, and to shade and cover, &c. It 

 is in the training and management of 

 the foliage in particular that the ge- 

 nerality of gardeners are careless, al- 

 though the labours of the j)hysiologist 

 and chemist have demonstrated how 

 important it is that every leaf should be 



