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provided for. A common plan is to make holes three or four feet in 

 diameter, and from fifteen to eighteen inches (ieep, filling them up again 

 with manure and soil. This method is not to be commended, and more 

 especially in stiff retentive land, as the holes, though filled in, will after 

 heavy rains be so many tanks of water, greatly to the detriment of the 

 plants. The better plan is to work the whole of the ground, and put 

 in drains where they are required. In loose sandy or gravelly soils, 

 where the water can soak away freely, there is no particular objection 

 to the system of making holes. As the plants are very tender, it is 

 useless to sow or plant in the open ground till all danger from frOfit 

 has passed. In the warmer parts of Australia a commencement may 

 be made about the latter end of August, but in the cooler districts it 

 will be safer to wait till several weeks later. In all cases it will 

 be advisable to give a little protection till the young plants are firmly 

 established. 



The most usual mode of sowing is to put in from six to nine seeds 

 three or four inches apart, covering them about an inch deep. Between 

 each of these clusters a space of nine or ten feet is left. When the first 

 pair of rough leaves make their appearance the plants are reduced in 

 number to the three strongest. If required, those that are removed may 

 be transplanted, as the plants, when young, bear shifting very well. 

 Some growers prefer rows of single plants, leaving them about two feet 

 apart in the lines. If early plants are required they may be obtained by 

 putting seeds in pots or boxes filled with rich soil, which may be placed 

 in a hot bed. As soon as the first pair of rough leaves make their 

 appearance the young plants should be potted off singly into small pots, 

 and shifted into larger ones as growth advances. They must be kept 

 steadily growing till the season is sufficiently advanced for planting them 

 out. Care must, however, be taken that they do not become drawn and 

 weakly, and in order to prevent this they should be kept near the glass, 

 and air freely admitted when the weather will permit. 



As soon as the plants begin to cover the ground their branches should 

 be regularly distributed and fastened with pegs to keep them in their 

 places. The surface soil should be kept loose by frequent stirrings, and 

 ought to be covered with a mulch three or four inches deep as the 

 branches advance in growth. It is advisable to stop the main shoots at 

 the fourth or fifth joint beyond where a fruit has set in order to promote 

 the growth of lateral branches. These laterals may again be stopped at 

 two or three joints beyond the fruit. Melons and all other plants 

 belonging to this family produce both male and female flowers, the latter 

 being easily distinguished by the embryo fruits being attached to them. 

 These will not mature unless fertilized by the pollen from the male 

 flowers. This is generally effected by the aid of insects, which travel 

 from one flower to another. Sometimes, as for instance when the plants 

 are grown in houses or frames, it is nece&sary to fertilize by artificial 

 means. This is easily effected by dusting the pollen of the male blossoms 

 over the others with a feather or camel's hair pencil. When the female, 

 flowers are fertilized, the fruit begins to swell, and after a sufficient 

 number have set according to the strength of the plants all blossom* 



