THE MELON. 



315 



Marron, Franc du Limousin, and La Chataigne 

 Escalade, will be tried under such favourable con- 

 ditions as will assure success. 



Propagation. — This is by budding, grafting, 

 and from seeds — the former for the perpetuation of 

 choice fruiting strains, and the latter for raising 

 trees for picturesque effect, coppices, &c. Some of 

 the finer and larger established strains also come 

 true from seeds. Sweet Chestnuts are mostly raised 

 from American nuts, as those grown at home are 

 considered too small, and the majority of French or 

 Spanish ones have had their germs destroyed by being 

 kiln-dried to preserve the nuts in good edible form. 

 Good sound English Sweet Chestnuts may, however, 

 be sown, and will produce strong, good plants. 



To avoid destruction from vermin, sow the nuts in 

 February or March, in the same mode and distance 

 as recommended for "Walnuts. The preliminary or 

 nursery treatment may also be of the same character. 

 So soon as they have been nursed up into trees with 

 stems about two inches through, they may be 

 planted in their permanent quarters. 



From twenty-five to thirty feet apart is sufficient 

 space for Sweet Chestnuts, as if annually or bien- 

 nially root-pruned during the first few years, they 

 will fruit more, and grow far less freely. 



Light, sandy soils, or very light loams resting on 

 dry subsoils, are the best for Sweet Chestnuts. They 

 will not thrive long on calcareous or heavy soils, 

 nor where stagnant water reaches the roots. The 

 site should be warm and sunny, sloping to the south 

 if possible. Groups, or single trees, in sheltered 

 sunny orchards, on southern slopes in parks, in warm 

 nooks and corners, or the warm sides of orchards, 

 are the most likely to ripen Sweet Chestnuts. Sandy 

 peats, where they prevail, are at once hot and 

 favourable for maturing the fruit. 



Pruning and Training. (See Walnuts.) 



General Cultivation.— This is next to nil. 

 Instead of fostering, the Sweet Chestnut needs 

 starving to heighten its fertility. It is less that our 

 climate is too cold, than that the major portion of 

 our soil is too rich to mature the fruit. Through- 

 out the greater portion of Italy the Sweet Chestnut 

 is grown on soils too poor to grow Corn, and too dry 

 to grow Grass. With a slight preparation it would 

 probably prove a fairly profitable crop on many 

 portions of our moorlands and heaths. 



Gathering, Drying, and Storing the 



Nuts. — As the nuts ripen the burrs open, and the 

 nuts fall to the ground either with or without the 

 burrs. The trees may also be shaken, or the nuts 

 gently tapped off with long, flexible boughs, so as 



not to injure their branches, for the fruit-buds for 

 next year are mostly formed on the extremities of 

 the young shoots of the current season. Carefully 

 dry the nuts in the sun, or over slightly warmed 

 flues, or in a gentle oven, so as to drive out all 

 extraneous moisture. Most foreign nuts are so 

 severely kiln or otherwise fire or sun dried as to 

 destroy their vitality, these processes being continued 

 for a week or more, the drying being accomplished 

 slowly. And if so much care is needed in the 

 drying of foreign nuts, even more should be exer- 

 cised in regard to home-grown ones, as the latter 

 of necessity contain a larger percentage of moisture. 

 After thoroughly drying, store the Chestnuts away 

 in air-tight jars or boxes till wanted for use. The 

 very dark colour of many Spanish nuts doubtless 

 arises from the severe roasting process to which they 

 were subjected in drying, which prevents them from 

 contracting a musty flavour afterwards. 



Though the Sweet Chestnut is a native of Asia 

 Minor, it thrives so well in our climate as to enjoy 

 almost an entire immunity alike from insects and 

 disease. 



THE MELON. 



(Cucumis melo.) 



By "William Eaeley. 



THE Melon is, as the technical name above given 

 explains, intimately related to the Cucumber. 

 In its indigenous state it is a herbaceous succulent, 

 of a trailing or climbing habit, and is one of the most 

 enduring amongst tropical fruits, persistently re- 

 taining its hold in various arid parts of the globe — 

 such as Bokhara and the plains of Ispahan — where 

 drought and aridity have driven other luscious and 

 valuable kinds out of existence. The merits of 

 Melons vary ; for instance, the coarser kind of Can- 

 taloupe, famed for ages around Rome, the " Water " 

 and "Musk" Melons of tropical Africa, &C, are 

 eaten in the early part of the day as cool refreshers 

 rather than from any aromatic or fruit-like flavour 

 and merit which they possess. 



By the more modern and more perfect systems of 

 heating, and by the general practice of raising 

 Melon fruits off the ground on to trellises near to 

 the glass, in lean-to or span-roofed pits or houses, 

 the fruits can be more readily exposed to tropical 

 conditions, and ripened into higher perfection of 

 flesh and flavour. 



Grown in frames or under glass structures gener- 

 ally, the highly succulent and green leaves may sug- 

 gest to many that the Melon is somewhat an aquatic 

 or shade-loving plant. The facts are quite the 

 reverse, however, for whilst leaf and root develop 



