BUDS, BLOOM, AND EARLY BIRD 



horizontal position that they will have when, presently, Feb. 

 they are tied down to the wires; and the task of I5"28 

 bringing them down is a delicate one, as they snap off 

 easily. It is best done by stages, preferably early in 

 the day. 



Do not turn heat on to late vineries yet awhile. 



Melons. — Like Grapes, Melons can be had in suc- 

 cession if suitable structures exist, but those whose 

 glass accommodation is limited to one house, in which 

 other plants have to be grown, may perhaps abstain 

 from growing early Melons, as the plants want a good 

 deal of heat and moisture — conditions which may not 

 be suitable for the other plants in the house. If there is 

 a heated pit in which the Melons can have the first 

 claim, seed may be sown now, one each in small pots, 

 using a soil of loam, leaf mould, and sand. The seed 

 will not be long in germinating in a small house, espe- 

 cially if the pots can be put in a propagator, or in 

 a damp place near hot-water pipes. When roots show 

 at the bottom of the pots the plants may be transferred 

 to 5-inch, and from these to mounds of soil placed two 

 feet apart on slates on the stage. The plants should 

 not be stopped, but allowed to extend up the roof. It is 

 not wise to give them large mounds of soil ; but, as in 

 the case of Cucumbers, to supply enough to nicely cover 

 the roots, and to give more in the form of warm, lumpy 

 topdressings of loam, when they are well established and 

 show roots at the top of the mound. 



Vegetables 



As noted previously, outdoor sowing must be guided 

 by the weather and the state of the soil. Given fine 

 weather and crumbly soil, early Peas, Broad Beans, 

 los 



