280 NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE 



it seems, quite down in dry weather : & says the defect 

 of male bloom is owing to y e seeds being of some age. 



30. On my Return from Sunbury I found my Canta- 

 leupes in very bad plight indeed : two of the Waverley 

 plants were quite rotten, & corrupted at the stem ; & one 

 of the Armenians, the day after I came home, withered 

 away, tho' perfectly sound ; & dyed as if eaten-off at the 

 root ; tho' upon search no grub could be found in the 

 mould. And what is stranger, no one fruit was set upon 

 any plant ; tho' hundreds have dropp'd away. There 

 certainly is a want of male bloom in the Armenians to 

 a degree : but then the Waverley plants over abounded ; 

 & yet cast all their fruit. 



I found a vast crop of pease, thro' the dripping season ; 

 & green pease soup every day. The first hand-glass 

 cucumbers are in full bearing : I intend to save 4 more 

 (the large white Dutch) for Seed. The small forward 

 beans have an unusual Crop. The fourth & fifth crop of 

 french-beans like to come to good. 



July 2. Planted-out a vast bed of Holy-oaks. 



6. Not one Cantaleupe set yet. 



July 6. Planted-out about 50 Polyanths, raised this 

 spring from Seed given me by M r - Hale. 



7. Finished my Hay-rick in most excellent order. 



The weather has been so perfectly hot, & bright for 

 these five days past that my Hay was all cut, & made in 

 that time. 



The Crop was so great that Kelsey's people made 8 

 carryings of it : & the burden in the great mead was 

 supposed to be considerably greater than ever was known. 

 To my own stock I added two tons from Farmer Lassam, 

 which in all make a considerable rick. 



Finished cutting the hedges round Baker's Hill. 



July 21. On my return from Dene on this day, I found 

 I had but one Cantaleupe set, and that a fig-shaped one, 

 not likely to come to good. 



The plants are in uncommon vigour, & grow un- 

 accountably, & are full of fruit still ; but strangely deficient 



