MEL 



[ 530 ] 



MEL 



from three to four fruit are secured on 

 each plant, and these are as large as a 

 pigeon's egg, all the blossoms must be 

 kept cut away, male and female, as they 

 appear. Each axillary shoot with a fruit 

 must be pinched or stopped three or four 

 eyes beyond the fruit ; and frequent 

 stopping practised with all the other por- 

 tions, removing at all times coarse shoots 

 which threaten to overpower the bearing 

 portions. The chief object should be 

 to expose as much healthy foliage as 

 possible, and that connected with bear- 

 ing portions, to the light, not suffering 

 late-formed leaves to overshadow the 

 older healthy leaves. Still, the sides of 

 the frame must be occasionally watered ; 

 and when the fruit is as large as a hen's 

 egg, a liberal watering of liquid-manure 

 may be given, avoiding, however, wetting 

 the collars of the plants at all times. Ven- 

 tilation must be daily had, but much 

 caution is necessary ; good linings must 

 be maintained, in order to support the 

 necessary temperature with ventilation. 

 By these means, fine, ripe Cantaloups or 

 Beechwoods may be cut by the middle of 

 May. We may add that the root-watering 

 may require to be repeated, but water 

 must be entirely withheld a week or two 

 before they commence ripening, and an 

 extra amount of ventilation used during 

 the ripening period. 



The main features of their culture in 

 houses or pits, or on trellises, are precisely 

 the same, except that, having a greater 

 depth of soil, and more room to ramble, a 

 much greater length of main shoot may be 

 allowed before stopping. In whatever situ- 

 ation, about 80 of bottom-heat, and an 

 average of 75 atmospheric, will be found 

 to suit them best, except that in propor- 

 tion as the sun-light increases they will 

 readily bear an increase of from 5 Q to 

 10, both to the roots and branches. 



Bed. Although a common hotbed is 

 generally used for this plant, yet a pit is 

 more economical of heat, and, by enabling 

 a more regular temperature to be sus- 

 tained, renders the fruit in greater per- 

 fection. The pit is a rectangular frame 

 or bin, built of nine-inch brick-work, and 

 enclosed by a glass case of the necessary 

 dimensions. Mr. Smith, gardener to A. 

 Keith, Esq., of Ravelstone, N.B., has 

 suggested a mode of building a pit which 

 renders the renewal of the heat in it 

 easy; and, as the committee appointed 

 to examine it report, is the means of con- 



siderable saving compared with the com- 

 mon mode of forming an open bed. But 

 the facility with which linings may be 

 applied is its best feature. 



The accompanying sketch will at once 

 show the form of the pit and Mr. Smith's 

 mode of applying the linings. A is the 

 pit, the side of which, a a, instead of 

 being a continuous piece of brick-work, 

 are merely rows of pillars six feet apart; 



and the brick-work of the frame, b b, is 

 supported by bars of iron reaching from 

 pillar to pillar. An outer wall, c c, is 

 constructed at two and a half feet dis- 

 tance from the pillars on each side ; thus 

 two bins are formed in which the linings 

 are inserted, as is found necessary, and 

 are kept close covered with thick boards ; 

 d represents the lights, which thus are 

 formed without any wooden frames. For 

 other modes of construction, see HOTBED, 

 PITS, &c. If a common hotbed is em- 

 ployed, fifteen barrow-loads of dung is 

 the usual allowance to each light, which 

 make it about six inches higher than is 

 allowed for the cucumber bed of largest 

 dimensions. 



If a melon-house be employed, the fol- 

 lowing is the form and mode adopted by 

 Mr. Fleming : 



" The house is twenty-eight feet long, 

 and fifteen wide, and is heated by means 

 of a saddle boiler, with four-inch pipes 

 passing round the outside of the pit, 

 which pipes are fitted with cast-iron 

 troughs, for holding water to regulate the 

 moisture of the atmosphere. Beneath 

 the pit is an arched chamber, a, along 

 the front of which runs the flue, 6, im- 

 parting a slight degree of heat to the 

 soil above, and also serving to heat a 

 series of arches, c, which run along be- 

 neath the path, and are entered from a 

 house iii front, d, and which are used for 



