CUCURBITACE^E. IV. CUCUMIS. 



11 



Time of maturation. " The interval between the setting of the 

 fruit and perfect maturity is generally from 30 to 40 days ; but 

 the plants in the same bed, and the vines on the same plant, 

 often show some difference in the time of reaching maturity." 

 Abercrombie. 



Cutting the fruit, " Ripe melons are distinguished by their 

 full size ; sometimes by turning yellowish, more constantly by 

 imparting an agreeable odour, often by the base of the footstalk, 

 close to the fruit, cracking in a little circle. On these indica- 

 tions, the fruit should be cut before too mellow or dead ripe, 

 that it may eat with a lively sharp flavour. The morning is the 

 time for cutting." Melons, Nicol observes, " if allowed to 

 remain on the plant till they be of a deep yellow colour (which 

 many do) lose much of their flavour. They should, therefore, 

 be cut as soon as they begin to change to a greenish yellow, or 

 rather, as soon as they begin to smell ripe. They may lie in 

 the frame for a day or two, if not immediately wanted, where 

 they will acquire sufficient colour. But if they are let remain 

 many days in the frame, they will become as insipid as if they 

 had been left too long on the plant." 



Saving seed. " The ordinary mode is to request the seeds of 

 particularly fine fruits, of approved sorts, to be returned from 

 table. The best way, however, is to pick some of the best 

 ripe fruit, take out the seed, clean it from the pulp, and let it 

 be well dried and hardened, and then put it up in paper." 

 Abercrombie. Nicol says, " wash it very clean, skimming off" 

 the light seeds, as those only that sink in water will grow." 

 Kal. p. 3!J6. Great care must be taken that the sorts, from 

 which seeds are saved, are genuine and distinct. When different 

 sorts are planted in the same frame, this cannot be the case. 



Second crop from the same plants. " When the fruit of the 

 first crop is off, a second crop may be obtained from the stools, 

 which often proves more productive than the first. If the first 

 crop is taken before the middle of June, the second will come 

 in at a very good time. For this purpose, as soon as the fruit 

 is cut, prune the plant, shorten the vigorous healthy runners at 

 a promising joint. At the same time take off" all decayed leaves, 

 stir the surface of the mould, and renew it partially by 3 inches' 

 depth of fresh compost. Water the plant copiously, shutting 

 down the glasses for the night. Shade in the middle of hot 

 days, and give but little air until the plants have made new 

 radicles and shoots. Afterwards repeat the course of culture 

 above described, from the stage when the first runners are sent 

 out till the fruit is cut." Nicol says, " When all the fruit of 

 the first crop are cut, suppose in 3 or 4 weeks, the plants may 

 be pruned for the production of a second crop, equal and 

 perhaps superior to the first. They should be cut pretty much 

 in, in order to cause them to push plenty of new vines, which 

 will be very fruitful, observing always to cut at a joint of some 

 promise, and to thin out all decayed or unhealthy vines, dead 

 leaves, &c. Observe also to cut an inch or two above the joint 

 you expect to push, and then to bruise the end of the stem so 

 lopped with the thumb and finger, which will, in a great mea- 

 sure, prevent it from bleeding. The plants should be shaded 

 from the mid-day sun for a week or ten days, exposing them 

 to his full rays by degrees. Now, also, let the mould in the 

 frame be well watered, in order to put the roots in a state of 

 active vegetation; point over the surface with a small stick, 

 or little wedge, and cover the whole with about 2 inches of 

 fresh mould. This will greatly encourage the plants, and cause 

 them to make new fibres near the surface. At this period air 

 need not be admitted very freely, especially while the glasses 

 are covered, but rather as it were endeavour to force the plants 

 into new life. After they begin to shoot, water, admit air, 

 prune, train, and otherwise manage the plants as before directed. 

 If the season be fine, they may yield you a third crop by a 



repetition of the above rules, coming in in September, which 

 might be very gratifying. I once had 52 full-sized fruit pro- 

 duced in a 3-light frame, a second crop, and two dozen on a 

 third ofFthe same plants, the early golden cantaloupe. Of the 

 first crop 26 fruit, two were cut the" 10th of May. Thus, a 

 3-light box produced, in one season 102 full matured melons." 

 M'Phail says " if you intend to have melons as long as there 

 is a sufficiency of sun to ripen them tolerably well, you had best 

 put linings of warm dung to some of your beds. These, if 

 applied in time and kept on, will cast fresh heat into the beds, 

 and, with other necessary assistance, the plants will grow as 

 long as you want them." 



Plan of obtaining a second crop of melons. " When the first 

 crop of fruit is nearly gathered, cuttings are taken from the 

 extremities of the shoots which show the most fruit ; these are 

 cut off close under the second advanced joint, or about the fifth 

 leaf from the top ; the two largest leaves at the bottom of the 

 cutting are taken off, and thus prepared, are inserted in 24- 

 sized pots, two in each pot, in light rich soil, gently shaken down. 

 After being watered, the pots are placed in a 1 -light frame, on 

 a hot-bed previously prepared, and plunged in the moder- 

 ately dry soil, with which it is covered. The frame is kept 

 close and shaded for a few days, and in a week the cuttings 

 will have struck root. The old melon-plants, with the soil in 

 which they grew, are now all cleared out of the frames, fresh 

 soil to the depth of 1 2 inches put in, and the beds well lined 

 with fresh dung. In 10 days from the time of inserting the 

 cuttings they will be ready to plant out, which is done in the 

 usual way. When the plants have pushed about 14 inches, 

 the end of. each shoot is pinched off, to cause them to produce 

 fresh runners, and the fruit which showed on the cuttings will 

 swell rapidly, and in 3 weeks after replanting the beds, abun- 

 dance of fine fruit may be expected. This way of getting a 

 second crop is far more certain than either pruning back the 

 old plants, or planting seedlings ; because cuttings grow less 

 luxuriantly, are less liable to casualties, and are much more 

 prolific." Harrison ex Loud. gard. mag. 2. p. 414. 



Cultivation of the Persian varieties of the melon. T. A. 

 Knight (Hort. reg. no. 6. p. 263.) erected a small forcing- 

 house for the exclusive culture of this fruit, and grew them by 

 means of fire heat. This house consists of a back wall, nearly 

 nine feet high, and a front wall nearly 6 feet, inclosing a hori- 

 zontal space 9 feet wide and 30 feet long. The fire-place is at 

 the east end and very near the front wall ; and the flue passes 

 to the other end of the house, within 4 inches of the front wall, 

 and returns back again, leaving a space of 8 inches only be- 

 tween the advancing and returning course of it, and the smoke 

 escapes at the north-east corner of the building. The front 

 flue is composed of bricks laid flat, in order to give a temperate 

 permanent heat, and the returning one with them standing on 

 their edges, the usual way. The space between the flues is 

 filled with fragments of burnt bricks, which absorb much water, 

 and generally give out moisture to the air of the house. Air 

 is admitted through apertures in the front wall, which are 4 

 inches wide and nearly 3 in height, and which are situated level 

 with the top of the flues, and are 18 inches distant from each 

 other. The air escapes through similar apertures near the top 

 of the back wall. These are left open, or partially or wholly 

 closed, as circumstances require. Thirty-two pots are placed 

 upon the flues, each being 16 inches wide and 14 inches deep ; 

 but they are raised by a piece of stone or brick to prevent their 

 coming in actual contact with the flues. In each of these pots 

 one melon-plant is put, and afterwards trained upon a trellis, 

 placed about 14 inches distant from the glass, and each plant 

 is permitted to bear but one melon only. The height from the 

 ground at which the trellis is placed, is such as can be con- 



