THE MELONRY. 



363 



front and back walls, a, a, are of brick, supported on piera 

 or stone pillars ; b b are spaces inclosed within outer walls, 

 and covered with boards to contain linings, which commu- 

 nicate, without any object intervening, with the fermenting 

 substances in the interior of the pit. These spaces may 

 be two feet wide : the interior pit should seldom be more 

 than six feet in breadth. A principal quality of this struc- 

 ture is its neatness and cleanliness. Caled. Hortic. Mem., 

 vol. ii., p. 217. 



West Melon and Cucumber Pit is also built of brick. 

 It has in this figure a chamber a to contain the dung ; 



Fte. 43. 



&, a spare opening by which the dung is introduced; c, 

 rafters of wood or cast-iron, sustaining the interior soil ; dd, 

 openings to permit the ascent of steam. The walls are 

 nine* inches thick, and the pit may be seven feet wide inside 

 measure. Lond. Hort. Trans., vol. iv., p. 220. 



Atkinson's Melon Pit, as given on next page, is a brick 

 structure. The back wall a and the end wall are four 

 inches thick, built in the pigeon-hole fashion, that is, with 

 square interstices between the bricks. The front wall b is 

 double ; the interior portion is brick in bed, the exterior 

 brick on edge, with piers under each rafter. The included 

 space communicates with the inside of the bed c. The 

 pit d is filled with fermenting litter or tanners' bark ; 

 e e aie spaces for linings. This pit, acccording to the ex- 



