226 FRUIT CULTURE UNDER GLASS. 



bright sun they are apt to suffer when moisture is 

 hanging about the foliage. 



VENTILATION. 



Ventilation, in the earlier stages of their growth 

 particularly, must be very carefully managed. Sudden 

 draughts of cold air are to be avoided, and the tem- 

 perature should never be allowed to reach its maxi- 

 mum before air is given. It should be attended to 

 by degrees till 12 o'clock, and gradually reduced as 

 the sun declines in power. In dull mild weather 

 avoid by all means keeping the house close and over- 

 moist, under which circumstances the plants grow 

 rapidly, with less consolidation, and therefore suffer, 

 or require too much shading when the weather 

 changes and becomes more bright. I am not an 

 advocate for front or side ventilation early in the 

 season, when there is a great difference between the 

 internal and external temperatures. Top air under 

 such circumstances is sufficient then to effect the 

 change of air that is required. When the fruits are 

 setting and ripening are the only times that I give 

 front air, even in summer, unless the weather be 

 exceptionally hot and calm. 



IMPREGNATION, TRAINING, AND STOPPING. 



The impregnation of the fruit requires the same at- 

 tention in melon-houses as in frames, only the opera- 

 tion is less frequently a failure. Indeed there is next 

 to no uncertainty attending it, unless in the case of 

 very early forcing, when the setting process is not 

 quite so free. In training and stopping the plants I 



