October 6, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



61 



Callnm, Defiance, Sultana Valida, Queen Victoria, Sir Robert 

 Napier, Louisa Smith, Prince of Wales, Oberon, and Titania. 

 Of these, the best in every way I have found to be Sir Robert 

 Napier, by far the most distinct of this class. There is an in- 

 describable depth and richness in the foliage, which makes it 

 a very striking plant ; but its greatest merits are — first, the 

 facility with which it can be propagated, every cutting rooting 

 easily, whether in the greenhouse or in the open ground ; 

 secondly, the remarkably full and vigorous habit of the plant. 

 In these respects it is just the reverse of Mrs. Pollock. There 

 is no legginess at all about it, and in the multitude of side 

 Bhoots it throws out, it beats almost every Geranium I know. 

 Of the rest, Mrs. Pollock comes second, but a long way after 

 it. Prince of Wales is gorgeous as a pot plant, but it has done 

 nothing out of doors, having, in fact, dwindled away rather 

 than increased in size. The same may be said of Sultana 

 Valida, Titania, and Queen Victoria. The others have done 

 fairly, Oberon giving me a few nice cuttings well struck ; but 

 none of these do I consider promising, except as single speci- 

 mens for pot culture. Titania is lovely as a pot plant ; so are 

 Defiance, Lady Cullum, and Sophia Cnsack. — B. & W. 

 (To be continued.) 



MELONS OUT OF DOORS. 



In the hope of eliciting further information from some of 

 your correspondents on this subject, I send you a short account 

 of tbe results attending my cultivation of out-door Melons this 

 season. I should say that the idea of growing Melons in the 

 open air was first suggested to me by a letter which appeared 

 in the Gardeners' Chronicle, of December, 1869, relating the 

 grower's own experience in the matter, from which it seemed 

 he had not been successful last season owing to the early frosts, 

 but thought another year success might be accomplished. 



Determined to try what could be done, I wrote at the be- 

 ginning of April to Messrs. Carter for a shilling's worth of 

 the hardy ridge Melon, called Achapesnorrischer, a name not 

 easily pronounced, and with greater difficulty spelt, and more 

 easily sneezed than either. However, what's in a name ? The 

 proof of a Melon is in the eating. For my shilling I got 

 eight seeds, which I placed in a pan, in a bed made-up for 

 other Melons. Of the eight seeds seven came up, and in 

 course of time the seedlings were potted off, though unfor- 

 tunately three met with an untimely death from scorching. 

 The remaining four plants were turned out at the end of May, 

 on three little ridges, made as for hardy Cucumbers, of about 

 2 feet in depth of warm manure and 1 foot of common gar- 

 den soil. The position was in the middle of the garden with 

 no wall near, and on a baEk sloping from the south, no 

 other spot being just then available. A little hand-glass was 

 put over each, and as the plants grew it was lifted higher and 

 higher to allow them to extend. 



By the third week in June they were well established and 

 setting fruit. No particular attention was paid to them beyond 

 an occasional watering, and, therefore, they did not probably 

 set so many fruit as if the blossom had been carefully im- 

 pregnated. 



The first Melon was cut the first week in August, but it was 

 not weighed or measured owing to my absence from home. At 

 a rough guess I should say it weighed between 3 and 4 lbs. A 

 second was cut the third week in August ; it weighed 4 lbs. 

 15 ozs., and was 25 inches in circumference. A third, cut 

 September 7th, weighed 4 lb. 8 ozs., and measured 24 incheB 

 round. A fourth (the largest of all), cut September 17ib, weighed 

 7 lbs. 2 ozs., and measured 27 inches. A fifth, cut September 

 28th, weighed 6 lbs. 8 ozs., and measured 26 inches. There 

 are three yet remaining, though not nearly equal in size to the 

 above. The vines have almost withered, but I have replaced 

 what remains under the hand-glasses, and I doubt not the 

 other Melons will ripen well. Of course 6ize is no criterion of 

 goodness, but these Melons were as fine in flavour as any I 

 ever tasted. I had two lots of green-fleshed Melons under glass 

 this year, but the out-door Melons were quite equal, if not 

 superior to them in flavour. The flesh is a bright orange, firm 

 but melting, juicy, sweet, highly flavoured, and eatable down 

 to the rind. The fruit is round, rough-skinned, and slightly 

 netted. The season has, no doubt, been exceptionably favour- 

 able to the growth of out-door Melons ; but I believe in most 

 summers, especially in rather a better situation, they will be 

 found to do equally well. I should add that the opinion as to 

 their flavour and appearance can be verified by many gentle- 



folks and gardeners of the neighbourhood who have seen and 

 tasted them. — G. J. Blomfield, Norton Rectory, Ilminster, 

 Somerset. 



MUSHROOMS IN A LONDON CELLAR. 



[The following answer to "E. S." will be of interest to 

 many of our readerB.] 



There can be no question as to your being able to grow 

 Mushrooms in a London cellar, provided it is moderately dry. 

 Taken all-in-all, a good cellar deep enough down to maintain a 

 pretty uniform temperature is about the best place for growing 

 Mushrooms all the year round, as it is cool in summer so 

 that the Mushroom beds may be open, and warm enough in 

 winter to suit the Mushrooms, especially when a little covering 

 of sweet hay or straw is put on the beds, if the place should be 

 rather cold. A temperature of from 50° to 55° in the atmo- 

 sphere, with from 10° to 15° more in the bed, and a rather still 

 atmosphere, are about the best conditions for free Mushroom 

 growing. 



Now with regard to your firBt question — Whether to make the 

 beds on the floor or on shelves ? I do not think there is 

 much difference, all things considered. It is easieBt, and re- 

 quires no additional outlay, to make the bed on the floor ; and 

 there is this advantage, that the beds may be deeper than those 

 which temporary shelves would well support, and if you are a 

 fresh hand, I would advise you to try beds on the floor before 

 going to the expense of making platforms or shelves one above 

 the other. However, if resolved to make the most of your 

 room, you could have a bed on the floor, and as many beds on 

 Ehelves above it as you could find space for, provided each sheK 

 bed were about a foot in depth, and there were a space of from 

 24 to 30 inches between the beds to allow of headway and ease 

 in examining the beds. If satisfied with a bed on the floor, it 

 should not be less than a foot in depth, but if from 15 to 

 20 inches deep it would bear all the longer, and maintain for a 

 longer time a mild uniform heat. The width of the beds is of 

 little consequence ; if ranging from 4 to 5 or 6 feet they will be 

 easily examined ; if wider you will have to step on the beds at 

 times. Hence if the width of the cellar would permit of it, I 

 would prefer having a walk— say 24 to 30 inches wide down the 

 middle, and a bed of 4 or 5 feet in width on each side, in pre- 

 ference to having one bed of 8 to 10 feet in width. If the beds 

 are made flat you will require something, as a board, to keep up 

 the side or sides, but you may dispense with that if you please 

 by building your bed in a slope considerably the highest against 

 the back wall, and coming down to the floor. In this case the 

 pathway would not require to be so wide. I have tried both 

 modes, and cannot say which is the better for beginners. I 

 prefer the flat beds. 



Premising merely that you have much room, I would advise 

 you, instead of makiog your beds all at once, to have from two 

 to four successions. 



I will now allude to the second inquiry, "What is the best 

 method to pursue?" This involves also the best material to 

 be used. Some time ago I described the different means to be 

 adopted with different materials. In London the be stand most 

 e8Si'y obtained material would be horse droppings, with about 

 half their bulk of short littery matter mingled witn them, and 

 if obtainable, about one-quarter of rough fresh fibry loam; but 

 it is not always to be had, and we have had fine beds with- 

 out any. Its chief use is preventing violent heating, and thus 

 more strength is left for the production of Mushrooms. The 

 most economical way to use the droppings, &c, where the 

 quantity is small, is to add a few inches every alternate day to 

 the bed, beating it well, until the requisite depth is attained. 

 This plan might not be suitable for a cellar, if the material had 

 to come through or close to the house, and it might be ad- 

 visable to have enough to make a bed or a part of a bed a>5 

 once. In this case collect or purchase as many droppings, &C-, 

 as you will want, let them be thrown in a place where no rain 

 can get at them, then put them into a heap to sweat and 

 beat, which will also make them as much drier as will be more 

 suitable for a bed at once. After remaining in the heap three 

 days or more they will mostly be in a good condition for form- 

 ing the bed, and should be placed in layers about 3 inches 

 deep, one layer being well beaten before the other is added, and 

 so going on until the bed, if flat, is say 10 inches high at the 

 front, and 14 inches high at the back. Much depends on the 

 beating, as the air, being thus to a certain extent excluded, the 

 ' heat will be less violent, but it will continue much longer. 

 Most likely at first, though the material is dry rather than very 



