Melon 



Melon 



may be placed on the bed in a continuous ridge 

 near to the front of the house, or in isolated 

 mounds, one mound for each plant. Neither ridge 

 nor mounds should be less than 1' high ; soil may 

 be added afterwards as the roots come to the 

 surface. Also the soil should be in the house for 

 three or four days prior to planting, so that it may 

 get warm. It is courting failure to plant in cold 

 soil. There need be no hard-and-fast rule about 

 the distance that the plants are to be apart. Most 

 up-to-date cultivators, however, plant rather closely 

 a single line, with the plants 9" asunder. Under 

 this system the trellis is covered quickly, and a 

 larger and more even crop of fruit is obtained. If 

 the plants are encouraged to make more growth, it 

 is difficult to obtain a simultaneous "set." Plant- 

 ing in double lines has gone out of favour. In 

 planting, the soil must be made very firm with a 

 rammer ; it can scarcely be too firm, unless it is 

 very wet and pasty. Shade for about a week after 

 planting. 



Training. Support the plants by a stake until 

 they reach the trellis, but do not take out the 

 points until they have climbed three-fourtlis of the 

 way up it. The tips of the lower laterals may be 

 pinched at the same time, and then the sub.laterals 

 from these, and the unpinched laterals higher up, 

 will be bearing female flowers at the same time. 



Fertilisation. Artificial pollination is always 

 necessary. The stamen-bearing flower, stripped of 

 its petals, should be thrust gently into the heart of 

 the flower which has a small fruit at its base. 

 The pollinated flower will soon close. Midday is 

 the best time, and a sunny day should be chosen, 

 the house having been kept rather dry during the 

 forenoon. In order to ensure an even set, 

 the blooms should all be pollinated on or about the 

 same date. Unless this is done, one or two big 

 fruits will "run away " from the rest, and the crop 

 will be uneven. 



Swelling and Ripening. As the thick, white 

 roots come through the soil, give top-dressings of 

 rich loam, making this firm, as before, with the 

 rammer. Liquid farmyard manure, and dustings 

 with Le Fruitier washed in with clean water, are 

 excellent when the fruits are as large as cricket 

 balls. Syringe twice on each bright day ; this 

 keeps down red spider, which is the pest most to 

 be dreaded. Shut up the house early in the after- 

 noon never later than 3 p.m. in the height of the 

 summer and do not let the night temperature fall 

 below 60 ; 65 to 70 can be easily maintained in 

 hot weather. Plenty of moisture must be kept 

 about until the fruit begins to ripen, when drier 

 conditions should prevail. The fruit should be 

 supported by pieces of flat board, 5" square, sus- 

 pended at the four corners, or by nets, from the 

 time it is about two-thirds grown, otherwise it 

 will fall before it is ripe. The knife should be 

 cautiously used upon Melons, pinching with the 

 finger and thumb being far safer. When it is 

 desired to ripen a few fruits quickly, however, 

 most of the stems may be cut away. The number 

 of fruits each plant is allowed to carry must 

 depend upon the size that is required. Two large 

 fruits can be had from each plant, or three or four 

 of medium size. 



The Extension System. As a rule, the plants 

 are destroyed after they have borne one crop, but 

 occasionally they are grown on to produce a second 

 and even a third. The one crop system is better, 

 although frequently healthy plants in September 



may be induced to bear a few later fruits after the 

 first crop has gone, when there would not be time 

 to replant and finish an entirely new crop. 



Melons in Pots. Where a whole house cannot be 

 flevoted to Melons, part of the bed may be made 

 up, or a few plants may be grown in pots. Their 

 culture does not differ from that of the planted- 

 out specimens, except that with a less extensive 

 root run they will require more frequent watering. 

 A 12" pot is'a good size, and one plant only should 

 go to each pot. If desired, the pots may be 

 plunged in fermenting material, but it is not 

 essential. 



Cultivation in Frames. This is not so reliable 

 as culture in houses, but still excellent fruits are 

 grown. Beds of fermenting material are made up 

 as in the houses, mounds of soil are placed in, and 

 two plants allotted to each "light " of the frame. 

 The plants are stopped once, and two shoots from 

 each taken on, one to each corner of the frame. 

 Subsequently the routine of pollinating, pinching, 

 watering, and top-dressing is carried on as for the 

 plants in the houses. Syringing, too, is practised, 

 but not to so great an extent, as there is more 

 danger of rot and canker in frame plants. 



In the Open Air. Melons are not at all satis- 

 factory subjects outdoors in this country. It is 

 true that in hot summers the plants will fruit on a 

 south border, beneath the shelter of a wall, but 

 the fruits are not to be compared in flavour to 

 those obtained from houses and frames. Moreover, 

 the crop cannot be called a reliable one. The 

 plants should be started in hand-lights, which may 

 be removed when growth is being freely made. 



Pests and Diseases. Reel spider is the worst 

 insect pot ; it may be kept down by syringing. If 

 green or black fly 'causes trouble, the plants may be 

 fumigated lightly. Rotting off at the collar is the 

 most troublesome malady. To check it, dust the 

 affected parts with powdered lime and charcoal, 

 and do not water round the collars. A small 

 nematoid worm sometimes attacks the crops ; the 

 only remedy is to burn the affected plants, for the 

 worms are ensconced within the tissues, not 

 merely in the soil. The same rather drastic treat- 

 ment should be meted out for canker, whilst 

 sulphur should be burnt in the house and all walls 

 whitewashed before another crop is allowed inside. 

 A very destructive mildew, Peronospora (Plasmo- 

 para) cubensis, occasionally makes its appearance. 

 Spraying with Bordeaux Mixture or with sulphide 

 of potassium is the most effective check. Scrupu- 

 lous cleanliness in the houses is the best antidote 

 to fungoid pests. 



Varieties : 



Varieties are legion, and yet the number of really 

 good sorts is small. A selection is given below. 



Green Fleshed : 



Araberwood Beauty. 

 Best of All. 



Scarlet Fleshed : 



Blenheim Orange. 

 Read's Scarlet Flesh. 



White Fleshed: 

 Ingestre Hybrid. 



Far the Open Air , 

 Open Air. 



Hero of Lockinge. 

 Ringleader. 

 William Tillery. 



Scarlet Premier. 

 Sutton's Al. 



Ne Plus Ultra. 

 The Countess. 



