238 MELONS. 



looked upon as an almost every day practice, not only in 

 the gardens of the opulent but in those of their more 

 humble neighbours. 



The main requisites for melon growing are plenty of 

 dung, proper soil, and good frames or pits. The hot- 

 beds for melons require to be much more substantial than 

 those for cucumbers, because they are a much longer 

 time in coming to maturity. Early cucumbers are cut 

 by many gardeners in six or seven weeks after the time 

 of sowing the seeds ; but melons require twelve or four- 

 teen weeks for the early sorts, and much longer for the 

 large-sized ones. 



Small melons, which are those always forced for early 

 crops, do not require to have the bed more than four feet 

 deep, when settled ready to receive the plants : for the 

 large sorts, the bed ought to be five feet at the least, and 

 in both cases the bed should be from two to three feet 

 both longer and wider than the frame. 



The mould for hills, on which the young plants are 

 to be turned out, should be a light rich loam ; but when 

 the plants are earthed up, the soil should be a good 

 strong loam from an old pasture, having the flag taken 

 along with it, adding a sixth part of rotten dung, and 

 turning it over three or four times before it is used. 



In preparing the bed, care must be taken that the 

 dung has been well fermented by turning it over two or 

 three times, and when used, if a quantity of oak or ches- 

 nut leaves be added and well mixed with it, the heat 

 will not be so great at first, and it will continue much 

 longer. 



In making up the bed, the ends and sides should 

 always be made the most compact and firm, by beating 

 them down with the fork, and occasionally treading them 

 so wide as to extend six inches within the frame ; by 

 this means the middle of the bed will settle the most, 



