THE MELON. 75 



bed should not be above one foot from the lower part 

 of the roof they must be trained back a little to reach 

 the lower rafter before they can be brought forward 

 up the roof, so that probably two feet will be the dis- 

 tance the plants will have to travel up a stick before 

 they can be stopped, and this must be done as soon as 

 the point fairly reaches the rafters. This will cause 

 them to make two or three shoots, on which probably 

 fruit may show. If so, nip them off, for no fruit must 

 be allowed to remain yet, not till the plants have 

 reached three or four feet up the rafters, then nip out 

 the points of each leader. This will induce a lateral to 

 each leaflet below, and on these will be the fruit. 



As soon as one fruit on every third lateral has set, 

 cut all the rest of the laterals off, leaving the one with 

 the set fruit on it. The setting of the fruit consists 

 in stripping the petals from a male blossom, leaving 

 the stamens which contain the pollen. Then take the 

 female or fruit-bearing flower between the two fingers, 

 holding it steady, and twirl the anthers containing the 

 pollen in the stigma, or centre of the blossom, on the 

 fruit, fix it there, and leave it for fertilisation. This 

 setting must be done at a suitable time, i.e. when the 

 flowers are wide open and dry. Allow one of the top 

 laterals to each leader to remain as a leader to advance 

 up the roof so as to cover it. Train them in regular 

 Grape-vine order, keep the vines thin, and by stopping, 

 an abundant crop of fine Melons will be had all over 

 the roof. 



It is rather difficult to manage Melons in a con- 

 tinuous and successional crop, that is, constantly ripen- 

 ing fruit, with others continually coming on, for those 

 that are ripening and coming to that state are apt to 



