CHAP. X VILLA GARDENING 369 



bud removed. All side shoots should be stopped oue leaf beyond 

 the fruit, and all laterals pinched to one leaf. 



SETTiNit THE Fruit. — It is difficult to say what should con- 

 stitute a crop of Melons, for everything depends upon the size of 

 the kind grown and the strength and development of the }ilant ; 

 but generally about four full-sized fruits may be considered as many 

 as a vigorous plant should carry, and the matter should be so timed 

 as to set the crop as near altogether as possible. The reason for 

 this is, that if one fruit gets the lead of the others it robs them of 

 their fair share of nutriment, and they will not grow. If we want, 

 say, fom* fruits to grow to maturity, it is as well, in order to secure 

 that power of selection already mentioned, to set at least six or 

 eight, and, when we see which are likely to turn out best, retain 

 those and cut away the others. I do not think it is necessary to 

 say much about the operation of setting. Every one knows that 

 male and female flowers, though borne on the same plant, are (piite 

 independent of each other, and unless they are brought together 

 by some agency, fertilisation could not take place. There are 

 various ways of doing this ; but the gardener usually does it in his 

 own rough-and-ready way by plucking a male flower from the same 

 plant that carries the fruit he intends to fertilise. By a rapid 

 motion of his thumb and finger the corolla is torn away, leaving 

 the cluster of stamens exposed and uncovered. These he thrusts 

 into the centre of the female flower, leaving it there. Both flowers 

 must be in the right condition when the operation is performed, 

 and the pollen must be dry. About eleven or twelve o'clock on a 

 sunny day is the best time. After the crop is set and fairly swell- 

 ing all male flowers and fruits not recpiired should be removed, 

 and no lateral be permitted to interfere with the direct light falling 

 on the main leaves, for if these are injured the fruits cannot be so 

 good as they should be. The first leaves of a Melon plant are, 

 like the first leaves of the Grajje vine, indispensable to the well- 

 being of the crop. 



Earthing -UP. — A single barrowful of soil will be sufficient 

 to start the young plants in, but as growth proceeds more soil 

 will be required, and enough should be added to complete the 

 ridge along the front of the pits. The soil should be pressed 

 down firmly, and the plant-growth will be firmer and the foliage 

 texture more substantial if the loam is heavy rather than light. 

 Later on, when the fruits are swelling, the side of the bed next 

 the path may be filled up with soil to complete the earthing- 

 up. In light soil Melons make too nuich growth, and it is of 

 too soft a nature to withstand bright sunshine and the attacks of 

 red-spider. 



2b 



