AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



349 



Melon. continued- 

 Culture in Frames. Where a quantity of Melons have 

 to be supplied, and houses suited for their culture are 

 not obtainable, the ordinary pits and frames have, of 

 necessity, to be utilised for growing them. In summer, 

 this is not difficult, especially with some of the hardier 

 sorts ; but, in spring, there are many disadvantages in 

 not being able to attend to the plants without having 

 them exposed to the air. Pits for Melon culture may 

 or may not be heated by hot water; in either case, the 

 bottom heat is usually supplied by fermenting material, 

 into which the roots are allowed to extend. This, and 

 the soil, should be prepared, and put in a few days 

 before the plants are inserted, in order that rank steam 

 may escape, and everything become warmed to a suit- 

 able temperature. Some soil should be incorporated 

 with the dung on the surface, and small mounds of soil 

 alone made where it is intended to plant say, under 

 the centre of each sash, if there is sufficient space 

 between for the plants to develop. In training Melon 

 plants in frames, the points should be pinched out when 

 the second or third rough leaf is expanded. Two 

 branches will then proceed from the axils of the lower 

 leaves; one should be trained towards the front, and 

 the other towards the back of the frame. When these 

 extremities are nearly reached, pinch out the points again, 

 and fruiting laterals will be those next produced. The 

 chief aim will then be to get enough flowers fertilised to 

 eventually form a crop. This process, called " setting," is 

 generally performed artificially, when the weather is fine, 

 and plenty of air can be admitted. It consists in trans- 

 ferring dry pollen from the anthers of the male to the 

 stigma of the female flowers, when both are in a fully 

 expanded state. The operation may be performed by 

 means of a camel's-hair pencil, or by detaching a male 

 flower, removing its corolla, and applying the pollen direct. 

 It IB best to allow only one fruit on a lateral; if more 

 are set, they should be removed, when any commence 

 swelling with certainty, the lateral on which they are 

 growing should be stopped at the point, and a piece of 

 slate, or board, placed beneath each fruit, to keep it 

 clean. The sub-lateral growths made afterwards must be 

 kept somewhat thinned, so as to admit the sun and light 

 necessary for perfecting the fruit. 



Cultivation in Houses. Although large numbers of 

 Melons are grown successfully in frames, superior ac- 

 commodation, in every way, is afforded in houses, the 

 plants being fully under control for receiving the neces- 

 sary attention. Houses used in winter for forcing or 

 plant-growing, may be utilised throughout the spring 

 and summer for Melons, if special provision cannot be 

 made. For early supplies, small lean-to or half-span 

 houses, about 10ft. wide, and facing south, are best 

 adapted ; and an ample supply of heat should be at 

 command. Melons succeed much better with than with- 

 out bottom heat. It is sometimes supplied by pipes 

 fixed in the bed beneath where they are planted out ; 

 and, at others, by fermenting material placed to the 

 depth of 2ft. or 3ft. Where pipes are in use, they 

 should be surrounded with clinkers, or other mate- 

 rial, through which the heat may pass readily to the 

 soil in which the Melons are grown. This should be 

 placed in mounds, not less than 4ft. apart, near the 

 centre of the bed, and allowed to remain until thoroughly 

 warmed through. The plants, having been previously 

 prepared in pots, and not allowed to become starved, 

 or infested with insects, may then be inserted, one in 

 the middle of each mound, the collar being kept a little 

 above the surface, and the soil pressed firmly round the 

 roots. A trellis must be provided, about 1ft. from the 

 glass, if one is not already fixed, and a stake placed at 

 once to each plant, to prevent it getting broken. The 

 training of Melons is differently practised in houses to 

 what it is in frames. The main shoot is encouraged to 



Melon continued. 



grow nearly to the top of the trellis before being stopped. 

 Side shoots, which then appear from the axil of nearly 

 every leaf on the main stem, invariably bear female 

 blossoms, and it is advisable, before any are fertilised, 

 to wait until a sufficient number of these open at one 

 time to form the crop. When one or two fruits are 

 allowed to take the lead, they swell rapidly, and later 

 ones frequently turn yellow, and drop off. About six 

 fruits will be enough for plants occupying the space 

 above given, and, if this number can be successfully fer- 

 tilised about the same time, they will each have a good 

 chance of swelling. A support must be placed beneath 

 each fruit before it becomes very heavy, to prevent it 

 breaking down, or, when getting ripe, becoming detached 

 from the stalk, and falling. A small board, with a string 

 or wire secured to each corner, for tying to the trellis, 

 is a handy method much practised, the boards being 

 equally useful for several fruits. Ripening will be indi- 

 cated by the fruit parting from its stalk, changing 

 colour, and emitting a strong perfume, not before 

 observable. It may then be cut, laid for a time in the 

 sun, and afterwards in a cool, airy fruit-room, until 

 required for use. The period during which a Melon 

 is at its best is a short one, and it is very important 

 to know from experience, as near as possible, when this 

 period is, and to send the fruit for dessert at the right 

 time. Hastening or retarding the ripening process, to 

 supply at certain dates, may be accomplished by exposing 

 to a higher or lower temperature, which, in either 

 case, should be a somewhat dry one. 



Some growers cultivate Melons, in summer, on what is 

 called the extension system, and many of the free-growing 

 varieties succeed admirably when thus treated. A large 

 house, in which the air is warmed by hot- water pipes, 

 and the bed heated similarly, or with fermenting mate- 

 rial, is planted with Melons in the usual way, or at 

 greater distances apart, the object being to allow a less 

 number of plants to grow without much restriction, and 

 keep on producing fruits. Thus, if three plants are in- 

 serted, the centre one may be cropped and removed, and 

 the others allowed to occupy the space afterwards ; or 

 the two permanent ones only may be inserted at 

 first. Under this system, it will be necessary to have 

 additional soil supplied, to keep the plants growing. 

 Watering, so far as is requisite, must be continued, 

 and air admitted more freely when successional fruits 

 are being fertilised. It would be well for the inex- 

 perienced to try this plan before generally adopting 

 it, as the treatment of plants respecting the ventila- 

 tion, watering, and other details, must, of course, be 

 different where the same house contains fruits in the 

 several stages of flowering, swelling, and ripening. The 

 advantage claimed is the larger, more juicy, and highly- 

 flavoured fruit, because obtained from plants whose sap 

 is allowed free circulation, consequent on less restriction 

 being practised in training the branches. 



Shading and Temperature. Seeds of Melons, when 

 sown in pots, should be plunged in a bottom heat of 

 about 75deg., either inside a dung frame or in a 

 heated house. In the early part of the year, the 

 young plants must be very carefully treated, by gradually 

 exposing them to light before there is a possibility of 

 their getting drawn. Later on in the season, as the days 

 lengthen, they grow more strongly from the first. A light 

 shading should be temporarily applied in hot weather, 

 to prevent flagging ; but Melons bear a good deal of sun 

 without injury, if properly watered and ventilated. The 

 temperature of the Melon house or pit, in spring, may 

 be from 60deg. to 65deg. by night, with a rise of 

 lOdeg. by day. Air must be very cautiously admitted 

 during March and April, and the house or pit shut 

 up early on bright days, to take advantage of the 

 sun heat. If the latter raises the temperature after 



