248. VINES 
frames ‘can also be taken away. But select a 
good, warm day for this, and if any chilly nights 
follow, you had best cover the hills with cheese 
cloth or paper. 
Melons should be sprayed regularly throughout 
the summer with Bordeaux mixture, and should 
never suffer for want of water. The plants 
should be spread out evenly over the ground 
and pegged in position with small twigs bent 
double. If properly handled, the melons should be 
ripening in from seventy-five to ninety days from 
sowing. Just before they ripen, place a small 
board, some six inches square, under each fruit, to 
keep it clean and to produce an even colouring. 
In gathering melons, remove only those that 
fall from the vine when gently touched; otherwise 
they are not ripe and should be left, at least until 
the next day. Be very careful not to step on 
the vines. From twenty-eight hills of melons 
(of the variety Emerald Gem) sown on May 20, 
last year, I began to pick on August 5, and 
averaged thirty melons a day up to and including 
September 20, or 1,230 melons in all. Only 
melons first-class both as to condition and quality 
were counted. I prefer Emerald Gem of all the 
varieties; the fruit is small, but of fine, salmon 
flesh and excellent flavour; other good varieties 
