8 



CUCURBITACE,E. IV. CUCUMIS. 



for potting." M'Phail says, " Melons will grow and produce 

 fruit of a good flavour, if they be planted in any kind of earth, 

 not of too light a texture, whether it be taken from a quarter 

 of the kitchen garden or from a corn-field, mixed well with 

 good rotten dung ; but earth of a loamy nature is the best, 

 because it retains moisture longer than lighter earth. Earth, dug 

 from the surface of a common, where sheep and cattle have 

 long been pastured, is excellent for the melon. It should be 

 broken well, and lie a few months before it is used, and if it be 

 exposed to a winter's frost it will do it good. This sort of 

 earth, if it be taken from the surface of the common, will re- 

 quire no manure the first year of using. I would here mention 

 that unless the earth which I used for the melon plants was 

 very strong, I made it a practice, when the melon-beds were 

 wholly earthed up, to tread the surface all over, which makes 

 the earth retain its moisture longer than if it were left loose." 

 Earth for melons, according to Nicol, " may be thus composed : 

 one-half strong brown loam from a pasture, a quarter light 

 sandy earth, an eighth part vegetable mould of decayed tree 

 leaves, and an eighth part rotten stable-yard dung. The mould 

 for both cucumbers and melons should be well incorporated, 

 should be exposed to frost, and be frequently turned over to 

 ameliorate." It appears from a passage in Morier's second 

 journey into Persia, p. 147., that pigeons' dung has from time im- 

 memorial been much sought after for manuring melons. Immense 

 pigeon-houses are built on purpose to collect it, and when there 

 is a dearth, as melons produce the earliest return of food, every 

 one is eager to cultivate them, and that kind of manure, being 

 then in great demand, sells very high. During the famine in 

 Samaria, mentioned in 2 Kings, ch. vi. it is said to have sold 

 for five pieces of silver the cub. 



A correspondent in the gard. mag. 2. p. 404. on melon 

 compost, and on the influence of soil on Hydrangea hortensis, 

 has always used for his melons the compost to which the Dutch so 

 strongly adhere, viz. one-third strong hazel loam, one-third scour- 

 ing of ditches, and one-third rotten dung, exposing the mixture 

 two years to the influence of the summer and winter, to evaporate 

 what noxious qualities may lurk in the earths: for it is well known, 

 that in proportion to the degree of salt of iron, it will be propor- 

 tionably sterile. He had often observed the leaves of his melon 

 plants turn yellow, occasionally plants died, for which he could 

 not account ; he suspected iron, as it pervaded his district, to be 

 the cause ; but as a magnet would not take up any of the com- 

 post, his attention was diverted from that point. Similar results 

 in future seasons again called his attention to it, and he added 

 lime, to correct the sulphate of iron, if any ; but he lost his 

 whole crop, which he fancied by the application of the lime. 

 As during winter a red oxide filtered from the compost heap, 

 he again felt certain of the presence of iron. He submitted the 

 compost to the test of burning, and having by that means got 

 rid of the superabundant carbon, the magnet immediately de- 

 tected the iron. He changed his soil, and has never lost since 

 any melon plants. The experiment proves that the old test of 

 the loadstone may be defeated by the presence of other adherent 

 matter ; for though it was inactive over the cold soil, it acted 

 in full force upon the soil when, by roasting, it had discharged 

 its gas. While a profitable experiment resulted on the one hand, 

 a great amusement occurred on the other, with some greenhouse 

 plants. He mixed the compost fresh from the ditch with water, 

 and found a precipitation of iron. He used the soil and water 

 to Hydrangea hortensis, a cutting from the common pink variety, 

 and it so altered the pink colour of the flower to purple, as to 

 form a new plant. He applied the same to other plants, in 

 some of which it altered the colour of the flowers, but in others 

 it had no effect. 



Estimate of sorts. Examine the list. The cantaloups are in 



the highest estimation for quality and neatness, although not 

 uniformly such great bearers as others in the list. 



Time of beginning to force. " From the time of sowing, 

 ripe fruit may be cut in about fifteen weeks, as an average 

 period ; when many short and winter days fall in the course, it 

 may last eighteen weeks; but when the forcing is not commenced 

 until the clays are nearly twelve hours long, and continually 

 lengthening, ripe fruit is sometimes cut in ten weeks. The pe- 

 riod also depends upon the sort. Little time is gained by begin- 

 ning excessively early. The early and main crops are commonly 

 originated from the middle of January to the first week of Fe- 

 bruary, the latter or succession crops at the beginning of March ; 

 and late crops, intended to fruit at the end of summer, in the 

 middle of April. M'Phail and Nicol sow in January. " The 

 latter says, " I formerly cut melons for three years successively 

 on the 15th, 12th, and 10th of May, and never sowed before 

 the last week of January or 1st of February. In 1788, when 

 at Rainham Hall in Norfolk, I sowed melons on the 12th of 

 March, and cut ripe fruit on the 20th of May. The kind was 

 the Early golden cantaloup. This shows how little is to be 

 gained, or rather how much may be lost by early forcing." 



Forming the seed-bed. The plants may be originated in a 

 cucumber-bed, and this is the general practice ; but Abercrom- 

 bie prefers a separate bed, built a slight degree higher than 

 for the cucumber at the same season, and adapted to a one or 

 two-light frame, according to the quantity to be raised." Nicol 

 raises the melon almost exactly in the same manner as he does 

 the cucumber. 



Choice of seed. " Seed under the age of two years is apt to 

 run too much to vine, and show more male than female 

 blossoms ; but new seed may be mellowed by being carried in 

 the pocket a fortnight or more, till the heat of the body has 

 dried and hardened it Seed 20 years old has been known 

 to grow and make fruitful plants, but seed that has been kept 

 3 or 4 years is quite old enough, and less likely to fail than 

 older." M'Phail says it is best not to sow melon seed till it be 

 2 or 3 years old. It cannot be too old if it be sound and 

 grow well. Nicol says, " I have sown melon seeds 20 years 

 old, from which I have raised very healthy and fruitful plants." 

 Kal. p. 396. Miller and Nicol say young melon seeds may be 

 worn in the pocket, near the body, for several months previous 

 to sowing, which has the effect of fully maturing them. " If 

 seeds of the last season," Nicol observes, " be sown without 

 taking this precaution, or something similar, the plants will not 

 be fruitful, but will run much to vine, and show chiefly male 

 blossoms." Kal. p. 396. 



Sowing. Abercrombie says, " Having moulded the bed, 

 and proved the heat, sow in pans 3 inches or pots 4 inches deep, 

 rather than in the earth of the bed. Sow a second portion in 

 5 or 7 days, to provide against failure. Do not at once plunge 

 the pots to the rims." Pr. gard. p. 108. 



Treatment till removed to the fruiting-pit. " As soon as the 

 plants appear, give air cautiously, guarding the aperture with 

 matting at night and on frosty or gloomy days. At favourable 

 opportunities wipe the condensed steam from the glasses. When 

 the seed-leaves are about half an inch broad, prick the plants 

 into small pots, 5 inches in diameter, 3 in each pot, giving a 

 little aired water just to their roots, then plunge the pots into 

 the earth of the hot-bed partially or to the rims, according to 

 the heat. Admit fresh air every day in moderate weather, at 

 the upper end of the lights, raised an inch or two, according to 

 the temperature of the external air, more freely when sunny than 

 cloudy, shutting closer or quite close as the afternoon advances 

 towards the evening, or sooner, if the weather changes cuttingly 

 cold, and cover the glasses every night with mats, and uncover 

 in the morning, as soon as the sun is high enough to reach the 



