670 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



dung-water; but as soon a,a the melons are 

 nearly full grown, water should be withheld 

 altogether." Mr CuthUl is no great advocate 

 for much dung in his melon soU, neither does 

 he like it over stiff, or the mould to be hard 

 trodden. This is quite in accordance with the 

 practice of the best melon - growers on the 

 Continent, and diametrically opposite to that 

 very generally practised in Britain. The variety 

 grown by this excellent cultivator is one called 

 Cuthill's early scarlet flesh, by far, he says, the 

 hardiest and best for an amateur, and the only 

 cue now grown for the first crops for Covent 

 Garden. By following the above rather unique 

 practice, he tells us that he has cut melons for 

 ' four years from the 5th to the 10th of May, and 

 has set fruit on the 5th April, and cut the 

 melons on the 5th of May. 



Melons produced by the Sth of May is exceed- 

 ingly good work; nevertheless, as we have al- 

 ready stated, Mr Fleming has produced them 

 by the middle of April, and we have no doubt 

 that in properly-constructed light and airy 

 houses they may be produced even earlier. 

 Heat, air, and moisture we have now completely 

 under our control in all properly constructed 

 plant-houses ; but the fourth great and indis- 

 pensable element, light, is much less at our com- 

 mand; and it is the absence of light that renders 

 the cultivation of both the melon and cucumber 

 so difficult a matter during winter and early 

 spring. Their being annuals, and, therefore, 

 unlike the peach or the vine, capable of being 

 originated from seed at the will of the cultivator, 

 and, so far as the first process of germination 

 goes, of being made to vegetate at any day in 

 the year, the absence of sufficient light alone 

 prevents these plants from attaining their full 

 development, and consequently the fruit also. 

 Propagating the melon by cuttings is had re- 

 course to when new seed has been sown, the 

 plants from which, having a tendency to grow 

 too vigorous, are restrained if their tops be 

 taken off and converted into cuttings. Cuttings 

 are also used when any peculiarly fine sort is 

 wished to be continued without the risk of con- 

 tamination with adjoining sorts. Melon plants 

 thus produced require little stopping or pruning, 

 but they also require a more generous and rich 

 soil when planted out. 



Impregnation of the blossoms is an imperative 

 process in melon-growing ; the female flowers 

 are distinguishable from the males by the 

 appearance of the embryo fruit at their base. 

 The best situated of those should be selected, 

 and by carefully divesting the male blossom of 

 its coroUa, its farina should be brought into 

 contact with the centre of the female flower, 

 and that from twelve to two o'clock in the day, 

 when the flowers are quite dry and the sun at 

 its greatest power. The operation should com- 

 mence when from six to ten female flowers are 

 formed on the plant ; and when it is perceived 

 that four fruit is secured on each plant, which 

 will be known by the rapid swelling of the em- 

 bryo fruit, the whole of the blossoms, male and 

 female, should be cut off as they appear, that 

 the whole strength of the plant may be directed 

 entirely to the fruit. The production of un- 



necessary blossoms weakens the plant as much 

 as the production of the fruit. The shoots on 

 which the fruit is set and swelling, should be 

 pinched off three or four eyes above the fruit, 

 stopping all lateral shoots from time to time to 

 prevent confusion, as well as cutting out all 

 coarse shoots which are not wanted. The 

 greatest care should be taken of the foliage, 

 exposing it as much as possible to the sun, 

 for no plant dislikes shade more than the 

 melon. Watering is an important matter, both 

 as regards the roots and foliage ; weak liquid- 

 manure should be applied to the former, and 

 that more especially when the plants are grown 

 in pots, boxes, or over tanks or vaults heated 

 by hot water. In the case of such as are grown 

 on dung -beds this is less necessary, as the 

 roots, passing through the bed of soil, enter 

 into and luxuriate amongst the manure the 

 bed is composed of. The foliage should be 

 watered with clear rain-water administered at 

 all times from 3° to 5° higher than the tem- 

 perature of the air in the pit or house ; for 

 although the melon does not require so humid 

 an atmosphere to grow in as the cucumber, 

 still the great drain made on the plant by the 

 fruit renders it necessary that sufficient aqueous 

 food be supplied it. Water at the roots is 

 most required during hot simny weather, and 

 while the fruit is sweUing. In watering, let 

 it be applied towards the extremities of the 

 roots, for there the absorbing spongiolets exist, 

 and keep the centre of the plant rather dry than 

 otherwise. Over much water there, particularly 

 in the case of the weaker and often finer varie- 

 ties, has a tendency, particularly very early or 

 very late in the season, to induce a species of 

 damp, which, if not guarded against, often rots 

 off the main stems. When water is applied to 

 the foliage, it should be by means of a very fine 

 syringe, more resembling a fine copious dew than 

 the heavy shower-baths often inflicted upon them 

 with a coarse watering-pot rose. In properly con- 

 structed melon-houses, the requisite amount of 

 humidity can be supplied to the foliage without 

 the use of the syringe at all. This holds good 

 in a very essential degree in the case of the 

 Persian melons, which are not only our best 

 sorts, but also our most tender ones. They are 

 found to require a much higher temperature, a 

 much drier atmosphere, and a much more 

 humid soil, than those of other countries. In 

 Persia, where they are grown as an open-air 

 crop, the melon-grounds approximate nearly to 

 our English water-meadows : water in a highly 

 enriched state is carried along the higher levels, 

 and made to irrigate the soil copiously, while 

 the plants themselves, elevated on raised beds, 

 are exposed to the full influence of a powerful 

 sun, — from which those who wish to cultivate 

 these fine melons will understand, that a rich 

 soil, dry on the surface, but rather moist below, 

 a high atmospheric temperature, with abundant 

 ventilation day and night, are important essen- 

 tials ; and therefore, to secure this in artificial 

 culture, we must have structures covered with 

 the brightest glass, so as to admit every possible 

 ray of sunlight, a competent bottom heat, and a 

 surface heat of from 85° to 95°, Such cannot 



