228 The Profitable Culture of Vegetables. 



fruiting of the plants, so that the fruits may have the chance 

 to ripen properly during the warm weather ; the second is that 

 plenty of healthy well-grown leaves are indispensable for the 

 production of fine fruit, and that therefore cutting away must 

 not be carried to an excess. 



As the fruit grows large it should be raised off the bed and 

 laid on a small piece of board, so that the colouring and 

 ripening may take place equally ; it should be turned so that 

 the eye (the part on the opposite side to the stalk) will show 

 uppermost. 



It requires some judgment and experience to know the exact 

 time when the Melons should be cut. The indications of 

 approaching ripeness are a change in the colour of the fruit to 

 a more or less yellow tinge; a softening of the part of the 

 fruit surrounding the eye, which yields slightly under pressure 

 from the fingers ; a number of cracks in and around the stalk, 

 as if the fruit were about to separate from the plant; and 

 lastly, a slight perfume, which grows stronger as the fruit gets 

 more fully ripe. The fruit should not be left until it is per- 

 fectly ripe before gathering it, but it should be cut just as it 

 is on the turn and laid in a dry place, where it will ripen in a 

 short time, slowly or quickly according to the temperature 

 maintained ; when it cannot conveniently be disposed of for a 

 a few days during warm weather the storage place should be 

 cool, so that ripening may be somewhat retarded. 



Throughout the whole time, until the fruit is almost full- 

 grown, the soil of the beds must be maintained in a moist but 

 not wet condition, particularly avoiding keeping the soil wet 

 immediately around the stem. Water in the morning, if pos- 

 sible between 6 and 7 o'clock, so that the plants may get dry 

 before the sun gets hot. Air must be given on all suitable 

 occasions, at first only a little and with care, but as growth 

 gets stronger and the weather more genial it must be gradually 

 increased, as the Melon requires drier and more airy conditions 

 than the cucumber. In July, or as soon as the weather appears 

 settled, the lights may be removed altogether and the plants 

 allowed to stand in the open-air. Should, however, the weather 

 become cold or stormy the lights must be replaced. 



From the end of June to the end of July, according to the 



