44'8 Culture of an early Crop of Melons. 



hoping that they will do the same in return. Publicity has done 

 much for our business these last ten years ; but I am sorry to 

 say that there are some gardeners who condemn all writers and 

 books upon gardening, and who yet take in all gardening pub- 

 lications, and very much profit by them, though they never 

 make known their own improvements. I have been requested 

 by several of my acquaintances to inform them if I had made 

 any improvement in the culture of early melons ; and I have 

 taken the only way to inform them that all gardeners should 

 take ; that is, in a public way. The melons that I cultivate for 

 the first crop are the early Cantaloup, not the golden. Its 

 greatest weight is about two pounds ; its flavour is good when 

 grown with plenty of sun; but, like all other early fruits 

 that are forced without much sun, the flavour cannot be ex- 

 pected to be so good, and more particularly in such seasons as 

 we have had of late. During the last spring, up to the 13th of 

 May, we had only 150 hours' sun altogether. The seeds of 

 my early melons were sown upon the 30th of January, once 

 topped, and planted in the pit the 8th of March : they showed 

 fruit April 1st, and set upon the 5th, which fruit they ripened 

 upon the 5th of May; and upon the 13th of last May a medal 

 was awarded for one of mine at the London Society. Now, the 

 grand secret (and when the idea first struck me I was quite 

 enraptured, well knowing that it was good) is this : — As soon as 

 the melon was the size of a walnut, I covered it with a 

 propagating glass, which I filled with sand ; and, at the same 

 time, plunged a thermometer into the sand, which generally 

 stood about 90°, while the atmosphere of the pit stood about 

 75°. Later than May, the plan will not answer, because we 

 allow the lining to get low. The great thing in my improve- 

 ment is, that the gardener can get early melons whether there is 

 sun or not. To the above, I shall add a few useful hints. In 

 the first place, I never top young plants more than twice: if 

 topped more, they throw out more vine than is wanting ; and then 

 the knife is used, which they dislike above all things. Secondly, 

 after the hills are first made, I do not add to them, but mould all 

 over the pit; so that at each moulding the roots are starting 

 upwards. Thirdly, watering is done in the middle of the day, 

 in order to steam the plants and to keep down insects, but 

 never upon the centre, for fear of canker. Fourthly, I prefer 

 having the fruit a good distance from the roots ; as, when the 

 sap has to pass so many leaves and joints, the fruit are un- 

 doubtedly better-flavoured. The compost I use is loam and 

 dung, not too hard pressed. 



Dyrham, Park Gardens, August 15. 1837. 



