THE MELONRY, 



363 



front and back walls, <z, a, are of brick, supported on piers 

 or stone pillars ; b b are spaces inclosed within outer walls, 

 and covered with boards to contain linings, which commu- 

 nicate, without any object intervening, with the fermenting 

 substances in the interior of the pit. These spaces may 

 be two feet wide : the interior pit should seldom be more 

 than six feet in breadth. A principal quality of this struc- 

 ture is its neatness and cleanliness. Caled. Hortic. Mem. , 

 vol. ii., p. 217. 



West Melon and Cucumber Pit is also built of brick. 

 It has in this figure a chamber a to contain the dung ; 



Fig. 48. 



5j a square opening by which the dung is introduced j d, 

 rafters of wood or cast-iron, sustaining the interior soil ; dd, 

 openings to permit the ascent of steam. The walls are 

 nine inches thick, and the pit may be seven feet wide inside 

 measure. Land. Hort. Trans., vol. iv., p. 220. 



Atkinson's Melon Pit, as given on next page, is a brick 

 structure. The back wall a and the end wall are four 

 inches thick, built in the*pigeon-hole fashion, that is, with 

 square interstices between the bricks. The front wall b is 

 double ; the interior portion is brick in bed, the exterior 

 brick on edge, with piers under each rafter. The included 

 space communicates with the inside of the bed c. The 

 pit d is filled with fermenting litter or "tanners' bark; 

 e e are spaces for linings. This pit, acccording to the ex* 



