September 28, 1876. ) 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



275 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day 



ol 



Month 



Day 



of 



Week. 



SEPT. 28—001. 4, 1876. 



Average 



Temperature near 



London. 



Sun 

 Rises. 



Sun 



Sets. 



Moon 

 Rises. 



Moon 

 Sets. 



Moon's 



Age. 



Olook 

 before 

 Sun. 



Day 



of 



Year. 









Day. 



Night. 



Mean. 



h. m. 



h. m. 



h. m. 



h. m. 





m. a. 





28 



Th 



Rndbeok, 1702. 



65.1 



44.0 



55.4 



6 58 



5 43 



4 22 



morn. 



11 



9 82 



272 



29 



F 



Michaelmas Day. 



65.5 



44.3 



54.9 



6 



5 41 



4 37 



54 



12 



9 52 



273 



30 



S 





65.0 



43.3 



54.2 



6 1 



5 88 



4 49 



2 9 



13 



10 12 



274 



1 



SrjH 



16 SONDAY AFTER TKINITY. 



63.4 



44.7 



54.1 



6 2 



5 37 



5 



3 25 



14 



10 31 



275 



2 



M 





64.4 



43.9 



54.1 



6 4 



5 35 



5 11 



4 41 



15 



10 50 



276 



8 



To 





63.7 



41.5 



52.6 



6 6 



5 83 



5 22 



5 58 



• 



11 8 



277 



4 



W 



Royal Horticultural Society— Fruit and Floral Com- 

 [ mittees at 11 a.m. 



63.7 



42.4 



53.1 



6 7 



6 30 



5 35 



7 18 



17 



11 26 



278 



Prom observations taken near London during forty-three yearB, the average day temperature 



of the week is 64.4° j and its night temperature 



43.4°. 









MELONS DESTITUTE OP FLAVOUR- 

 IN COLD FRAMES. 



-GROWING 



ELONS Lave not been good this year." The 

 observation surprises me, for I have never 

 had a finer crop of higher quality, and that 

 under very ordinary — i.e., hotbed culture. 

 I have three two-light and five three-light 

 frames over dung beds devoted to Melons, 

 and the plants have averaged three fruits 

 per light for a first crop, and in ten lights 

 I have had a second crop of an average of 

 three fruits per light, and in four lights I 

 have a third crop of three fruits under each light ; these 

 fruits, as might be expected, being small, or weighing 

 1^ to 2 lbs. each — just the size for breakfast, some persons 

 being particularly fond of a Melon in the morning, and a 

 small fruit is as good, often better, than a six-pounder. 

 The 105 fruits afforded a fruit daily up to the middle of 

 September, commencing July 3rd — about a fortnight later 

 than usual.- The heaviest fruit was Beechwood X Read's 

 — 7 lbs., and the smallest 1£ lb., a cross of Moreton Hall 

 with Wills's Oulton Park x Colston Basset ; the smallest 

 were the most esteemed, and of those I had only a dozen, 

 the remaining ninety-two all exceeding 2 lbs. weight. The 

 only two named kinds grown are Eastnor Castle and 

 Heckfield Hybrid, some fruit of the last reaching 6 lbs. 

 I grow those — Eastnor Castle for its high quality and 

 continuity of bearing, and Heckfield Hybrid for its free- 

 bearing and hardiness, it being hardier than Little Heath. 

 I have a 60-feet run of lean-to frames divided into 

 fourteen lights, which are used for Lettuces to come in 

 early in spring, and for raising plants, or hardenicg-off 

 plants afterwards up to the end of May. The frames are 

 only 4 feet wide, and are not heated. Loam enriched 

 with stable manure was used for the Lettuces, and into 

 this soil I put out a Melon plant under each light from 

 a 4-inch pot on the 10th of June, and they have given 

 two fruits per light of over 2 lbs. each, some weighing 

 nearly 4 lbs. I find Heckfield Hybrid is not nearly so 

 oval when grown cold as when grown with both top and 

 bottom heat. It is hardier and larger than Little Heath, 

 is earlier under the same conditions, and of better quality ; 

 it is free in growth, though small in foliage, and the fruits 

 set and swell freely. I selected it and Little Heath for 

 planting in the cold frame as being the two hardiest, in 

 order to compare the doings of some cross-breds with 

 them, my object being to obtain a Melon with the high 

 flavour of Scarlet Gem, or its better form Read's Hybrid, 

 scarlet-flesh, Meredith's Hybrid Cashmere in green-flesh, 

 and Golden Gem in white-flesh — one that would succeed 

 from sowing the seed early in April, planting-out in 

 May, and ripen with as little protection as that afforded 

 Vegetable Marrows. Read's being the hardiest form of 

 Scarlet Gem, I crossed it with Golden Gem, and the 

 result is a variety of the type of both parents with much 

 hardier constitution, ripening perfectly in a cold frame 

 without any heat other than that of the sun. Golden 

 Gem is not much netted, but the cross with Read's gave 



No. 8W—VOI.. XXXI., New Semes, 



fruit as finely netted as the latter and of handsome ap- 

 pearance. Then Beechwood x Read's gave a green and 

 scarlet-flesh, representative of both in the progeny, both 

 succeeding in a cold frame. Any amateur who, using his 

 frame or frames for raising half-hardy plants from seed, 

 and is desirous of growing Melons in the frames after 

 the middle or end of May, but is deterred by the idea- 

 that artificial heat is necessary, may be disillusioned if he- 

 applies for a few seeds, of which I shall be happy to give 

 so long as they last — namely, Golden Gem X Read's and 

 Beechwood X Read's ; and any who can command a hot- 

 bed in May, to line it with grass-mowings afterwards, can 

 have seeds of Moreton Hall X Wills's Oulton Park X Colston 

 Basset, a blunt-ended oval small kind, ranging from 1 to- 

 2 lbs. in weight, just the thing for a Melon connoisseur ;. 

 but it is only right to state that it has so hard a rind as- 

 when ripening to be liable to crack, which may, however, 

 be prevented by keeping dry at that time and leaving a 

 little air on at night to prevent moisture from condensing 

 upon the fruit during the night. Any amateur sending a 

 stamped directed envelope is welcome to a few seeds. I. 

 may mention that a grand Melon for breakfast is Colston 

 Basset. Big Melons like large dessert Apples are often 

 poorly flavoured. 



Melons are often ruined by too much heat. They grow- 

 luxuriantly, but the fruit turns yellow instead of swelling,- 

 and the result is only a fine crop of foliage. To have Melons 

 in May and early in June bottom heat is absolutely 

 necessary ; but after the middle of May a spent hotbed 

 is as good as a bed of fresh material. What most Melons 

 like is a broiling sun and plenty of water at the roots. I 

 water them with a hose pipe, the water often being 20° be- 

 low that of the temperature in which the plants are grow- 

 ing. Everybody knows that when plants are grown in 

 bottom heat to water with the fluid less in temperature by 

 20° would lead to disastrous consequences, but it does not 

 in the least affect plants without bottom heat. Constant 

 dribblings of water overhead may prevent evaporation, 

 but they are practically useless as means of supplying 

 food to the plants and fruit. Drizzling waterings, syring- 

 ings, &c, may be necessary in hot-water-heated structures 

 where the air is being made constantly lighter and the 

 moisture is reduced in proportion, but in unheated frames 

 the case is very different. I usually give such a watering 

 that it runs through a dung bed. Twice a-week this 

 watering is given in very hot weather, but, as a rule, only 

 once. Ab for sprinkling overhead at closing I have never 

 thought about it since I gave up growing Melons in pits 

 with top and bottom heat furnished by hot water. We 

 do not want Melons until the middle of June, and such 

 pits are put to better purposes. 



I find the beginning of March is as early as the seecJ 

 need be sown for growing the plants in frames or dung- 

 heated pits. The plants are potted singly in 4-inch pots 

 when the first rough leaf shows itself, and in sowing and 

 potting the soil is thoroughly moist and warm. The- 

 fruitingbed is made up when the plants are potted, and 

 the soil is put in when the heat of the bed is not more at 

 6 inches beneath its surface than the hand can bear ;. 



No. 1461.— Vol.. LVL, Olu Series. 



