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OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



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399 



or Ridget. The ridges into which the plants are to be put 

 out to remain, should always be in a warm situation ; the 

 beat position is where they are open to the south, or a little 

 inclined to the east, and sheltered at a distance by trees from 

 the other points : the ridges should be enclosed with a good 

 rwd fence, but at such a distance every way from the bed, as 

 not to obstruct the rays of the sun during any part of the day, 

 with a door wide enough to admit the wheelbarrows, dung, 

 and -kept locked up, to prevent children or ignorant per- 

 ~ons from taking up the glasses, and letting in the cold air to 

 the young plants. Preparation of the Earth and Dung. 

 The next thing is the preparation of the earth, in which the 

 Dutch and (ierman gardeners are very exact : the mixture 

 which they generally prepare, is one-third of hazel loam, one 

 third of the scouring of ditches or ponds, and one-third of 

 very rotten dung ; these are mixed up at least one, and often 

 two years before they are used, and are often turned, to in- 

 corporate and sweeten their parts : but the compost in which 

 they succeed best in England, is two-thirds of fresh gentle 

 loam, and one-third of rotten cow-dung, which if mixed 

 together one year before it is wanted, so as to have the be- 

 nch' t of a winter's frost and summer's heat, observing to turn 

 it over often, and never suffering weeds to grow upon it, will 

 be found equal to any other compost whatever. As these 

 plants succeed best when they are planted young, so before 

 the plants appear, there should be a quantity of new dung 

 thrown in a heap, in proportion to the number of lights in- 

 tended, allowing about fifteen good wheelbarrows full to each 

 light ; this must be two or three times turned over, in the 

 same manner as directed for Cucumbers, and will be fit for 

 use in a fortnight : the trench must then be made to receive 

 the dung, and the bed must be made wider than the frames, 

 but in length proportioned to the number of frames intended : 

 the trench should be a foot or more deep in dry ground. 

 When the bed is made, the frame should be placed over it 

 to keep out wet, but there should be no earth laid upon it till 

 after it has been three or four days made, and is found to be 

 of a proper temperature of heat. Planting and Management 

 <>f the Beds. As soon as the bed is found to be of a proper 

 warmth, the earth should be laid upon it, not more than two 

 inches thick at first, except in the middle of each light where 

 the plants are to be placed, where a hill terminating in a flat 

 cone, fifteen inches high or more, must be raised ; and in two 

 or three days after the earth is put on the bed, it will be of a 

 proper temperto receive the plants, which must be transplant- 

 ed in the evening when there is little wind stirring : the roots 

 must be raised with a trowel.carefullypreservingall their fibres, 

 for if they be broken off, the plants do not soon recover, nor 

 ever after flourish so well as those which have been carefully 

 removed j for these plants are more tender than those of the 

 Cucumber, especially the Cantaleupe Melon, which if planted 

 out soon after the third, or what the gardeners call the rough 

 leaf, is putout,is long- in recovering its vigour : so that when 

 the beds cannot be ready for them in time, it will be a good 

 method to put each plant into a small pot while they are 

 young ; they may also be plunged into the hot-bed where 

 they were raised, or into the Cucumber-bed where there is 

 room, so that they may be brought forward ; and when the 

 bed is ready, they may be turned out of the pots, with the 

 whole ball of earth to their roots, whereby they will receive 

 no check in removing ; which is the best method that can be 

 pursued with the Cantaleupe. When the plants are placed 

 on the top of the hills, they should be gently watered, which 

 should be repeated once or twice till after the plants have 

 taken good root; rfter which they seldom require more, for 

 too much wet cankers their roots,and then they never produce 



good fruit. When they have taken root, there should be a 

 greater quantity of earth laid on the bed, beginning round the 

 hills where the plants grow, that their roots may have room 

 to strike out, and as the earth is put in from time to time, it 

 must be trodden or pressed down as closely as possible ; and 

 it should be raised at least a foot and a half upon the dung 

 all over the bed, observing also to raise the frames, that the 

 glasses may not be too near the plants, lest the sun should 

 scorch them. When the plants have got four leaves, the tops 

 should be pinched off with the finger and thumb, but not 

 bruised or cut with a knife, because in either of these cases the 

 wound will not so soon heal over ; this pinching is intended 

 to compel the plants to put out lateral branches, for these are 

 what will produce the fruit ; therefore, when there are two 

 or more of these lateral shoots produced, they must also he 

 pinched, to force out more; and this must be practised often, 

 that there maybe a supply of what the gardeners call runners, 

 to cover the bed. The management of these beds must be 

 nearly the same as is directed for Cucumbers ; it needs only 

 be observed, that the Melons require a greater share of air, 

 and very little water.which should be givenat a distance from 

 their stems. If the plants succeed well, they will spread 

 over the bed, and reach to the frames in about five or six 

 weeks, at which time the alleys between the beds should be 

 dug out ; or, where there is but one bed, there should be a. 

 trench made on each side, of about four feet wide, about as 

 low as the bottom of the bed, and hot dung wheeled in to 

 raise a lining to the same height as the dung of the bed, 

 which should be trodden down close, and afterwards covered 

 with the same earth, a foot and a half thick or more, as was 

 laid upon the bed, treading it down as closely as possible. 

 This will add to the width of the bed, so as to make it in the 

 whole twelve feet broad, which is absolutely necessary, for 

 the roots of the plants will extend themselves quite through 

 it ; and it is for want of this precaution, that it is common to 

 see the vines of Melons decay before the fruit is well grown ; 

 for where there is no addition made to the width of the beds, 

 the roots will have reached the sides by the time that the 

 fruit appears, and having no room to extend themselves, their 

 extremities are dried by the sun and the air, which is soon 

 discovered by the plants hanging their leaves in the heat of 

 the day, many of which decay near the stern ; and the plants 

 from that time gradually languish, so that the fruit cannot 

 be supplied with nourishment ; and when ripe, will be found 

 to have little flesh, and even that mealy and ill-flavoured; 

 whereas those plants which have sufficient breadth for their 

 roots to run, and the earth laid of a proper depth, and closely 

 trodden down, will remain in vigour until the frost destroys 

 them, so that a second crop of fruit has sometimes ripened 

 very well upon them, even after the first had been produced, 

 of an unusually large size and excellent quality ; whereas in 

 most places whers. the Cantaleupe Melons have been raised 

 in England, the beds have been no wider than they were 

 first made, and had not generally more than three inches 

 thickness of earth upon them, so that the plants have 

 decayed many times without producing a single fruit ; and 

 from thence people have imagined, that this sort of Melon 

 was too tender for this climate, while their ill success was 

 entirely owing to their not understanding the culture. There 

 is also another advantage attending this widening the beds, 

 as above directed, which is that of communicating fresh 

 warmth to them, by the hot dung, which is buried on each 

 side, which will cause the dung in the bed to renew its heat ; 

 and as the plants will by this time show their fruit, this 

 additional heat will be of great service in setting the fruit, 

 especially if the season should prove cold, which frequently 





