84 CULTURE OF THE MELON 



otherwise they must be allowed to grow until 

 they do attain that height and then be stopped. 

 They will afterwards break and throw out 

 laterals ; the two uppermost of which, on each 

 plant, must be retained, and led to within six 

 inches of the back and front of the walls of the 

 pit, where they must be stopped alternately, 

 after an interval of three days, to prevent their 

 growth being checked. From these a supply 

 of runners will be had, which must be care- 

 fully attended to daily, as to stopping and 

 thinning, until the fruit is fairly set; which, 

 from the arid atmosphere of the pit, it will 

 much more freely do than in ordinary beds ; 

 and it will advance afterwards with great 

 rapidity, to the delight and admiration of the 

 cultivator. 



Do not allow the fruit to set on all the plants 

 at the same time, but at intervals of a fortnight 

 or so, according to the demand, in order not to 

 have them ripen too near each other. If a suc- 

 cession of crops be desirable, one fruit only on a 



