THE HEAT AND THE SOIL. 2O7 



be free of draughts and large leaks. Our melon house 

 opens into sheds at both ends, so that no outside air 

 ever blows into it ; yet even here we lock up the house 

 from the time the melons begin to form, to prevent per- 

 sons from passing through it. We like to keep the room 

 close. It should be capable of being kept dry. There 

 should be ample room over the benches for training the 

 vines 5 to 6 feet. We use benches, for melons must 

 have strong bottom heat. Fig. 71 (page 206) is a view 

 in our melon house, taken on the 3rd of October (at this 

 time many of the melons were as large as one's fist), 

 the plants having been set in the bench on the 2oth of 

 August, and the seeds sown the 2oth of July. For my- 

 self, particularly where such high temperatures are 

 wanted, I prefer steam heat. A melon house should 

 receive direct sunlight through an unshaded roof. In 

 this respect melons differ from the English or frame cu- 

 cumbers, which generally thrive best under a shaded 

 roof. The burning of the foliage by the sun is avoided 

 by the use of glass which does not possess waves or va- 

 rying thicknesses in the panes. The bubbles, flaws and 

 "tear drops" in glass are not the cause of burning. 

 Fig. 3 (page 18) shows a cross-section of the house in 

 which we have grown melons, and which is also shown 

 in Fig. 71. We have used benches A, B and c. The 

 lower bench, D, has too little head room, and, being 

 the lowest, it is too cold for melons. 



The soil should be very fertile. We have had good 

 success with clay sod, which had not been manured, 

 pulverized and mixed thoroughly with about one-quarter 

 the bulk of well-rotted stable manure (but fresh or rank 

 manure should not be used). Such a mixture contains 

 enough quickly available nitrogen to start the plants off 

 strongly, whilst the mechanical condition of it is so fria- 

 ble that all the mineral elements are easily obtained by 

 the plants. It should be well firmed, after it is placed in 

 the bench, by pressing it down with the hands or by 



