Transactions of the London Horticultural Society. 467 



REVIEWS. 



Art. I. Transactions of the Horticultural Society of London. 2d 

 Series, Vol. II.| Parts III. IV. 4to. London, 1837 to 1838. 



(^Continued from p. 417.) 



24. On the Cultivation of the Melon in open Frames. By John Williams, Esq. 

 C.M.H.S. Read February 21. 1837. 



" Nothing can be more simple than the construction of my glass covering. 

 I sink a shallow pit about 9 in. or 1 ft. deep in the ground ; a strong wood 

 frame is made the size of the intended bed to support the glass. My frame 

 is 18 ft. .long, by 8 ft. 3 in. wide ; each light is divided into two parts, the 

 upper part being the shortest. By this division the lights receive less injury 

 in being removed ; and, as wood props soon decay in the ground, I procured 

 some small cast-iron pipes 2 in. in diameter from our Gas Works, and by 

 cutting the pipes a little above the moulding, this circular projection aiFords 

 a secure shouldering for the wood frame to rest on ; the lower end of the 

 pipe goes into the ground, and is secured in its place by a few small stones 

 rammed round it in the way of paving a street. Four long pipes support the 

 upper, or north side of the frame, and four short ones, the lower or south 

 side. The lower part of the pit is filled with a mixture of old leaves, the 

 winter prunings of raspberry plants, and other twigs from wall trees and 

 shrubs which every garden affords in the spring ; to these I add a little horse 

 litter and the first mowings of grass lawns, dusting in a little lime in powder, 

 which hastens the decomposition, kills insects, and keeps up a durable bot- 

 tom heat for some weeks. I find in the autumn the melon roots go through 

 the whole, down to the bottom of the pit, and, when removed in the follow- 

 ing winter, it affords an excellent compost for the garden. The melon 

 plants are raised in small pots, each plant being in a separate pot, the seed 

 being sown in March or beginning of April ; this will give time for each plant 

 to be stopped twice in the seed-frame ; and they will then afford female 

 flowers from the lateral shoots, very soon after they are planted at the end 

 of May. I usually, when first the plants are turned out of the seed pots, 

 simply cover them with hand-glasses, say the first fortnight, each glass being 

 furnished with a night-cap of matting to prevent the radiation of its accumu- 

 lated interior heat in clear nights. The glasses of course are raised on 

 one side, every sunny day, to harden the plants as much as possible ; and at 

 the same time their use saves the trouble of moving, and endangering the 

 breaking of the frames. The bottom compost is covered with about 9 or 10 

 inches of soil, and this soil with slates, the principal runners being carefully 

 spread, and pegged down, that each leaf may receive its due portion of light. 

 The glass, when the bed is settled down, should be from 16 in. to 18 in. above 

 the slates, so as to give room for the leaves to expand and receive motion 

 from the wind, and the exhaling moisture to be carried away. As the bot- 

 tom heat declines, I keep a supply of grass mowings, fallen leaves, and other 

 garden refuse, as a lining on the north side. Green glass is much to be pre- 

 ferred to crown glass, the leaves are less liable to be burnt, in spots, by the 

 sudden exposure to light in showery weather. The plants require no water 

 at root after they have first got rooted in the bed, nor any syringing with 

 water on the surface of the leaves ; I found the latter did injury. One single 

 dusting of flowers of sulphur thrown amongst the leaves in a calm morning 

 or evening, by means of the newly-invented portable fan engine, I found, last 

 summer, effectually kept off the red spider and thrips. Every gardener who 

 saw the plants growing expressed sm'prise at their healthy appearance, and 

 the abundance of fruit. 



" Should this mode of cultivating melons be adopted, I have no doubt of 



