Sec. 30.] 



GARDEN CULINARY ^^:OETAHLES. 



485 



greatest pests of all vines, and the best of the many remedies in our opinion 

 is the clicappst, Avliicli is siiiiidy inclnsin:^ the hill as soon as ]>lunted with & 

 board bo.x six or eight iiiclics high, drawing the earth up a little around the 

 outside. It has been found unnecessary to cover the top with thin niuiilin 

 or flakes of cotton batting, except for tiie ]>urpose of keeping the earth 

 Avarmcr. Tiieso boxes sliould bo made about a foot square, and tajHiring 

 enough to admit packing them in nests to stow away as s<X)n as the planta 

 are largo cn(nigli to allow of reninving their wooden widied jirofection. 

 Other seeds may be protected by such boxes against seratching hens, as they 

 will seldom, if ever, get inside to do misdiicf ; and so long as hens do not de- 

 stroy seeds or plants, or fniit in a garden, they arc useful, for they oat up 

 thousands of worms and buirs. 



o 



Other melons should be planted and treated as wc have said of water- 

 melons ; an<l of all the various sorts of musk-melons, the small greefi melon 

 that looks as tliough covered with a fine flaxen netting is the be.-it, to our 

 taste, though we have great hopes that the new Persian melon, that grows 

 as big as the old musk-melon, will prove as ricli as its first fruits indicate. 



Great care is necessary to save melon seed pure. Vines of eucuinlKin 

 and melons never should grow near ti> each other. Let the truth bo ro- 

 membered, that the varieties of all this family will mix, ami that seedling* 

 seldom improve either sort, and that the best always sutler by the contact. 



Bees are great mixers of the ]>ollen of flowers, and they can oidy be jire- 

 vcnted by getting up earlier in the morning than the bees. Select a number 

 of female blossoms which have opened during the night. Tfiey may be 

 known by growing on the end of the young sijuash, melon, etc., while the 

 male blossoms (" false blows," as they are often ealleil) have no fruit. Scat- 

 ter the pollen of the male blossoms upon the stamens of the female ones, and 

 carefully cover the latter with millinet. or anything which will i.n.tecl them 

 from the visits of the liees. A piece of cotton cloth, or wnu a ti.piash leaf, 

 kept in place by a few clods of earth, will answer a good purjKwe. When 

 tlic blos>om withers, the covering may be removed, and the fruit nmrked by 

 a colored string tied loosely around the vine. 



547. iMflous Started iu the House.— It is recommended by one who has 

 met with sucee.-s to till some small oj'en baskets with earth and start the 

 plants in them by artificial heat. Suitable bsu-kets to hold a pint may bo 

 made for half a cent each of bark or willow twigs, or split stuff, or even 

 shavings, or <<],], worthless strawberry baskets nmy bo used. Perhni>« ulruw 

 baskets would answer, and be very eheai-ly made. Anything that will 

 hold the dirt until tlie jilants are large enough to set out, will answer llio 

 purpose, and then the b.iskets and all the ci.ntenlj} arc phinte«l in the hilk 

 The object in using baskets is not to disturb the ro«>ts of the plants, as thoy 

 are very tender, and do nut bear transidanting. Any other tender pUut 

 may be crrown in the same way. 



54^. The \pplc-Ple .Melon.— L. Norris, of "Windsor, Ashtabula County, 

 O., says: "The npple-pio melon, with good cultivation, will altaiu to 40 or 



