NATURE OF THE MELON PLANT, &C. 259 



June, and supplies continued till October and 

 November. 



The plants are always raised from seed ; those 

 required for the early crop are sown in winter, 

 and for the main crops in spring ; the plants 

 must be raised in a hotbed, which is generally 

 done in a small one first, where they remain till 

 two, three, or four inches high, when they will 

 be of a proper age for transplanting into the 

 large melon frames, where they are to remain 

 for fruiting ; but where there is a hothouse with 

 a bark bed, or other sufficient heat to raise the 

 plants in, if a small dung hotbed is not wanted 

 early for other purposes, the seed may be sown 

 therein, and be transplanted direct into the 

 fruiting frames; but the general methods will 

 be found more fully explained in the following 

 paragraphs, under their proper heads. 



DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF THE MELON, WITH 

 OBSERVATIONS. 



Par. 46. All the varieties of melons may be 

 considered exotics of very tender nature ; of 

 these, the Romana is one of the earliest and 



