MELONS. 231 



are more conical, not solid, and do not usually blanch well without 

 being tied up, though this variety is somewhat of an exception 

 to this remark, the heads blanching tolerably well without tying. 

 It is an excellent and very popular variety, being very brittle 

 and weU flavored, and makes an excellent summer Lettuce. 

 Lettuce seed will grow when it is three years old. 



MELONS. 



Our seasons are short for the production of fine Melons, and 

 even with the aid of hot-beds in which to start the seeds, we do 

 not always succeed in ripening off the crop before frost. Nor 

 have we found it to be of any advantage to give the plants a 

 very early start so as to lengthen the season of growth, for, in 

 truth, they wOl not grow in the open ground until the warm 

 ■weather has fairly set in, and the nights are no longer chilly, not 

 to say frosty. Besides, they seem to be so sensitive to a sudden 

 chill, that plants started early under glass have need to be har- 

 dened off with great care, for the cold seems to so shock their 

 constitution that they do not recover from it for a long time, so 

 much so, that plants raised from seed sown much later are often 

 much the larger and healthier by the first of August. "We have 

 succeeded best by planting the seeds on pieces of inverted sod, cut 

 about two inches square, which have been placed for a few days 

 before planting in a cold frame, and the sash kept tight, so as to 

 warm the sod thoroughly with the sun heat. As soon as the 

 plants make their appearance give air as freely as possible, 

 that they may not be drawn, but kept stocky and hardy. 

 Such seed planting need not be done before the first of May, and 

 the plants should not be set out in the open air before the 

 ground has become quite warm, and the nights no longer cold. 



A light, friable, and warm soO, with as sunny an exposure as 

 possible, and, if it can be, sheltered from west and north-west 

 winds, is the best place for Melons. It need not be very rich, 

 only enough thoroughly rotted manure worked into the spot 



