CHAP. II. DESSERT FRUITS. 191 



adopted. "Dig a trench fourteen inches deep and two feet 

 broad, and sow a double row of seeds in each trench. When the 

 plant is a foot high, train it along the dry ridge above the trench, 

 taking care that it does not come in contact with the water, the 

 roots only being watered." 



4. The compost with which Mr. Chew directs the holes to be 

 filled is composed of half well-decomposed horse or cow-manure 

 and half earth. 



5. About the middle of March Mr. Chew recommends as the 

 most suitable time for sowing, and states that Afghanistan 

 Melon-seed sown at that time grew with surprising vigour, and 

 bore fruit simultaneously with plants that had been raised two 

 months before. 



6. Mr. Chew makes a great point of steeping the seeds in 

 warm water, letting them remain twenty-four hours. He con- 

 siders this absolutely essential. After the steeping he directs 

 that they should be covered with a wet cloth, or kept in wet 

 ashes two or three days until they sprout. 



7. As soon as sprouted, Mr. Chew directs, sow them at about a 

 foot apart and an inch or an inch and a half deep. Immediately 

 deluge them with water, and so every evening until the plants 

 are two inches above ground. After that an occasional drenching 

 will be beneficial. A great deal depends, Mr. Chew observes, 

 upon the plants being well watered at first, for those that spring 

 up with vigour are not so subject to insects. 



The above directions given by Mr. Chew, which differ in no 

 essential particulars from those given by Mr. Millett, are perhaps 

 as good as can be followed. It should however also be kept in 

 view, that the withholding of water when the plants are in 

 blossom, and the giving it freely after they have set their fruit 

 up to just when it is ripening, and the withholding of it again 

 then, is as important to be observed in the cultivation of this as 

 it is of every other fruit. 



The Melon, if possible, should be always sown in the spot where 

 it is to remain, as it can ill endure transplantation, and its roots 

 should be disturbed as little as possible. 



M. Ysafceau states : "It has been well ascertained that the 

 fruit of the Melon is so much the better the nearer it is borne to 

 the collar of the root. A system of pruning is therefore usually 

 resorted to, for the twofold purpose first, of causing the fruit 



