MELON. . 199 



Seed. Those who wish to procure melons in perfec- 

 tion, must be careful, in the first place, to procure good 

 seed ; secondly, to plant them remote from an inferior sort, 

 as well as from cucumbers, squashes, gourds, and pump- 

 kins ; as degeneracy will infallibly be the consequence of 

 inattention to these directions. Abercrombie says, " Seed 

 under the age of two years is apt to run too much to 

 vine, and show only male flowers ; but new seed may 

 be mellowed by being carried in the pocket a fortnight or 

 more, till the heat of the body has dried and hardened it. 

 Seed twenty years old has been known to grow, and make 

 fruitful plants ; but seed which has been kept three or four 

 years is quite old enough, and less likely to^ail than 

 older." 



Soil. Abercrombie says, " The melon will succeed in 

 any unexhausted loam, rich in vegetable rudiments, with a 

 mixture of sand, but not too light. The following is a 

 good compost; two thirds of top-spit earth from a sheep- 

 common, adding sharp sand, if the earth contains little or 

 none, till half is sand ; one sixth of vegetable mould, and 

 one sixth of well-consumed horse-dung. Or, if the earth 

 is not obtained from a sheep-pasture, rotted sheep-dung 

 may be substituted for the last. The ingredients should 

 have been pulverized and incorporated by long previous 

 exposure and turning over." Dr. Deane observed that " a 

 good manure to be put under melons is an old compost of 

 good loam, with the dung of neat cattle or swine." 



Sowing melons in the open ground. Mr. Armstrong says, 

 " To succeed in raising them for market, the Honfleur 

 method, as described by M. Calvel, may be employed. 

 Select a spot well defended against the north wind, and 

 open to the sun throughout the day. If such is not to be 

 found in your garden, create a temporary and artificial shel- 

 ter, producing the same effect. At the end of March, form 

 holes two feet in diameter,, and distant from each other 

 seven feet and a half; fill these with horse-dung and litter, 

 or a mixture of mould, dung and sand. At the end of 

 twenty days, cover the holes, which have been thus filled, 

 with hand-glasses. When the heat rises to 36 of Reau- 

 nm., [113 Fahr.,] sow the seeds four inches apart; and 

 when the plants have acquired two or three leaves, pinch 

 off the end of the branch or runner.* This will produce 



* " There is much controversy among gardeners and savants on this point ; 

 nor are the pin, . - entirely united in opinion, how far this practice should be 

 r& Tied. Some content themselves with taking off the cotyledons, when Ui 



