July 26, 1864. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 











No. 



1.— Three-li 



ght Frame. 











Sort. 

 Early Cantaloupe .. 



* 



Sown. 

 February 5th. 



Bed made. 

 March 3rd. 



Bed soiled. 

 March 14th. 



Planted. 

 March 18th. 



Earthed. 

 April 17th. 

 June 23rd. 



Fruit set. 

 May 1st. 

 July 18th. 



Ripe. 

 June 16th. 

 September 8th. 



No. cut. 

 21 

 18 



iVo of Plants. 

 9 











No. 



2. — Two-light Frame. 















. February 5th 



March 3rd. 



March 14th 



March 21st, 



April 16th. 



May 13th. 

 July 20th. 



June 28th. 

 Sept. 18th. 



14 



6 



* 













No. 



3.— Three-light Frame. 











. March 7th. 



April let. 



April 12th. 



April 16th. 



May 10th. 



June 1st 

 August 12th. 



July 20th. 

 Sept 30th. 



25 



9 



* » 













No. 



4. — Two-light Frame. 







Scarlet Gem .. 





March 19th. 



April 3rd. 



April 15th. 



April 19th. 



May 10th. 



Jnne Uth. 



July 28th. 



18 



c 



* 















No 



5. — Two-lig 



ht Frame. 















April 17tb. 



April 29th. 

 April 26th. 



May 5th. 



No 

 May 8th. 



May 8th. 



6.— Two-Hg 



Msy 12th. 



May 18th. 



ht Frame. 

 May 28th. 



July 1st. 

 July 18th. 



August 23rd. 

 Sept. 17th. 







Golden Perfection .. 



April 17th. 



7 



4 



Incomparable 



(Bon 



April 19th. 



April 29th. 



No. 



May 6th. 



7. — Three-light Frame. 

 May 9th. May 18th. 



July 14th. 



Sept. 11th. 



29 



9, 









No 



. 8. — Three-light Pit without means 



of lining. 















May 12th. May 28th. 

 No. 9.— Thre 







July 28th. 

 f lining. 



Sept. 21st. 













i-light Pit, with means o 







Stoke Farm .. 





May 12th. 











August 6th. 

 front. 





27 



9 











No. 10.— Three-light Pit with flue in 









Cabul 





May 12th. 



June 5th. 



June 20th. 



June 27th. 



July 14th. 



August 16th. 



October 12th. 

 Total 



16 



9 









74 









_ The above table refers to a place where the supply of fresh 

 litter was equal to a cartload of dung per day, and the de- 

 mands of the family great. For a moderate family three 

 frames or pits are sufficient to afford a fair amount of fruit 

 from June, or the beginning of July, until the middle of 

 October. 



The following table gives the dates of the principal ope- 

 rations in three such pits, with the heat at 1 foot below 

 the surface, also the day and night temperature at various 

 stages : — 



First crop, also furnishing a second crop. — Sorts : Orion, 

 Scarlet Gem, and Early Cantaloupe. 





Sown. 



Bed 



Made. 



Bed 

 Soiled. 



Bed 



Planted. 



Mar. 21. 

 88° 

 84° 

 73° 



Bed 

 Earthed 



Fruit 

 Set. 



Fruit 

 Ripe. 



Date 



Feb. 6. 

 85° 

 85° 

 70° 



Mar. 5. 



Mar. 15. 

 91° 



April 24. 

 86" 

 81° 

 70° 



May 14. 

 84° 

 85° 

 65° 



JulylO 



Soil 



Day temp,... 

 Night temp. 



85° 

 67» 



Second bed or succession. — Sorts : Bromham Hall, Beech- 

 wood, Bousie's Incomparable. 



Date Mar. 3. Mar. 27. April 14 April 21 May 17. June 20 Au. 15 



Soil heat ... 87° ... 88° 84° 82° 85° 83° 



Day temp.... 85°. ... ... 87° 85° 82° '86° 



Night temp. 68" ... ... 71° 67° 61° 71° 



Last crop. — Sorts : Egyptian, Stoke Farm, Excelsior. 



Date 

 Soil heat ... 

 Day temp... 

 Night temp. 



April 6.|April 261 April 30 

 84° I ... 97° 

 87° | ... 

 70° 



May 10. 



86° 

 74° 



June 7. 

 84° 



July 18. 

 81° 

 85° 

 65° 



Sep. 15. 

 76" 

 85° 

 63° 



Supply. — A range of pits of nine lights, divided into three 

 compartments, each 11 feet by 6 feet, or separate frames, 

 will furnish on an average fifty fruits of good size and flavour, 

 some years more, others less. Two fruits are sufficient for 

 a strong, healthy plant to bring to maturity ; more are had 

 at the expense of size and flavour. Where, however, two 

 plants only are placed under one light, three fruits may be 

 taken from one plant, and where a quantity of Melons are 

 desired, size being no object, more may, of course, be left on 

 a plant. In 1861, I cut thirty-seven fruit from nine plants 

 in a three-light pit in July, and in September seventeen 

 more, making a total of fifty-four, the fruit weighing col- 



* After the fruit was cut the old Vines were pruned in to near the root as 

 the young shoots springing from the stem, or nesr it, determined. These 

 shoots were encouraged when the fruit approached ripening, or became 

 netted. A portion of the old soil was removed, and its place supplied with 

 fresh. Water was supplied copiously, and a fresh lining of hot dung applied. 

 By these means a healthy action of the roots was encouraged, and the result 

 was a crop of fruit little, if at all, inferior to the first. 



lectively 41 lbs. ; whilst from nine plants in an adjoining 

 pit of like dimensions, seventeen fruits were cut, which 

 weighed 33 lbs., or, on the average, double the weight of 

 those produced by plants carrying a greater number of fruit. 



Where the supply of fermenting material is only sufficient 

 to make up a bed, it is useless to attempt to obtain a crop 

 of Melons early, unless hot dung be in readiness to renew 

 the heat by linings ; then a crop may be relied on. With 

 only sufficient dung to form a bed, it is best to defer making 

 it up until the middle of May, so as to have it in proper 

 order for the reception of the plants, which may be pro- 

 cured of some gentleman's gardener; or a few pots of the 

 desired kinds might be accommodated in a neighbour's 

 frame to forward, and have them ready to plant in the bed 

 when it is ready to receive them ; if not, a small frame must 

 be placed on a hotbed, that the plants may be forwarded in it. 

 If a Cucumber-frame at work be at command, no difficulty 

 will be experienced in raising plants. A bed made up early 

 in May, 3 feet or more in height, and a foot wider than the 

 frame, will retain a moderate heat for about six weeks, by 

 which time the heat of summer will be almost sufficient 

 to carry on the plants without artifieial heat ; but if wet, 

 dull weather set in, particularly at the time when the 

 flowers are on the point of setting, the short grass coming 

 from lawns after mowing, placed round the frame on the 

 dung, will revive the heat, and materially aid the process of 

 fecundation. In dull, cold seasons, it is next to impossible 

 to get Melons to set their fruit where there is not material 

 at hand for lining the bed; but in the majority of seasons 

 fruit of moderate size and flavour may be had by aiding the 

 plants at the beginning with a little warmth, and then 

 husbanding the sun heat. 



Fermenting Materials for Hotbed. — W here the in- 

 clination exists to have anything, means are eas ily provided, 

 not that everything will do for supplying heat to Melons, but 

 the most simple and common materials of a fermenting 

 character may advantageously be employed. Tree leaves 

 may be collected in the autumn when dry, and kept in any 

 out-of-the-way place, piled up or closely packed together so 

 as to represent a stack, with a ridge roof thatched with 

 coarse grass, reeds, or straw, which will throw off much of 

 the wet, and keep the leaves nearly in the same condition 

 as when stacked, until spring. Then by employing a little 

 fresh litter to render the sides of the bed firmer, moistening 

 the leaves with water, a good bed 5 feet high in April, 4 feet 

 in May, may be formed, and it will be less violent in heating 

 than stable-dung, but more lasting. With a supply of leaves, 

 and the mowings of lawns, the heat may be maintained by 



