82 THE FRUIT GARDEN 



materials are used is 3J feet deep and 2 feet wide, these when settled to 

 occupy rather more than 2 feet, and the soil rather less than I foot. If hot- 

 water pipes are used, a bed 2 feet deep by 2 feet wide will be large enough. 

 I ought to say that the border should be high enough to allow the young plants 

 when planted out to be within 18 inches of the roof of the house, and within 

 6 or 7 inches of the trellis upon which the plants are to be trained. 



Soil. — The best compost for melon culture is turf cut from old pasture-land, 

 and if the land is inclined to be marly, or of a strong, loamy texture, so much 

 the better. The turf should be cut 4 inches deep (with the grass undisturbed). 

 It is often recommended that with the loam should be mixed a certain quantity 

 of organic manure (e.g. horse droppings, cow manure, and leaf-mould). This, 

 in my opinion, is a mistake, as of all materials loam alone is the best. The 

 object to keep in view is to build up a healthy, strong plant, free from gross and 

 sappy growth — a plant that will not give way under the strain of perfecting a 

 heavy crop of fruits. If the turf, or other soil available, is poor and of loose 

 texture, then I should advise the addition of a small quantity of horse or cow 

 manure and marl. Whole turves, as cut from the field, should be placed on 

 the fermenting material the width of the bed, grass side downwards: make them 

 firm by treading. On this turf small hillocks of soil should be placed 2 feet 

 apart, composed of loam broken into small pieces about the size of a walnut, 

 and made fairly firm. In the course of three or four days, when this soil has 

 become warm, and the manure has lost some of its rankness, the young plants 

 may be planted. If hot-water pipes are used for bottom heat instead of 

 fermenting material, then in the bottom of the bed upon which rest the hot- 

 water pipes, place broken bricks deeply enough to cover the pipes, finishing 

 with a layer of broken crocks ; upon this place the layer of turf forming the 

 foundation of the bed of soil. The heat from the pipes will easily permeate 

 the whole of the bed, and can be regulated by the valves. 



Raising the Seedlings. — If ripe fruits are required in early spring, the 

 seeds should be sown not later than the ist of January. I have occasionally 

 sown them about the 20th December, and if the weather early in the new 

 year happens to be bright, enabling the young plants to make a fair start, there 

 is a slight advantage in this early sowing. About the 25th April is as early as 

 it is possible to have melons ripe, and to enable the grower to cut fruit at this 

 early season great care and vigilance must be exercised. The best way to raise 

 the earliest seedlings I have found is to make up a heap of fermenting material 

 (large enough to accommodate the number of plants required) to within 6 inches 

 of the roof in a warm house. Two seeds should be placed in a small pot ; 

 one seed would be enough if it were sure to grow, but so early in the season 

 seeds sometimes fail to start. The small pots must be plunged in the prepared 

 bed, the temperature of which will be 85 degs. at first, falling to 80 degs. when 

 the young plants appear above ground, and at this temperature it will remain 

 for some time. When the seedlings are seen the temperature of the house 

 should not be allowed to fall below 65 degs. Fahr., even in the early morning ; 

 in order to keep a temperature of 70 degs. Fahr. at night, which should be 

 the minimum, it is better for the plants, and more economical also, to cover the 



