320 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



Scarlet Premier, and St. Blaise. Queen Anne's 

 Pocket Melon is one of the most minute in form, 

 free-bearing, and prettily netted, and makes a pretty 

 dish, while Little Heath is one of the hardiest, and 

 most suitable for cold-frame or open-air culture. The 

 New Green Climbing, one of the greatest novelties ; 

 and the Citron Melon, a somewhat hardy variety 

 suitable for preserving or similar conserves, are also 

 worthy of a trial. 



MELON-GROWING BY EXPRESS. 

 By T>. T. Fish. 

 Each seed should be sown in a single pot or on a 

 separate piece of turf, or in a bed of rich soil or 

 manure, in which the seeds should germinate 

 quickly and the roots ramify rapidly. So soon 

 as they have formed one proper, that is, a rough 

 leaf, the plants should be moved bodily, with 

 every rootlet intact, to their fruiting quarters, and 

 watered home with water at a temperature of 90 c or 

 100°. Put a stake to each plant to hold it firmly in 

 position, and in planting place the soil firmly round 

 the lower part of the stem, not, however, burying 

 the collar of the plant deeper than it was when it 

 burst the seed and raised itself out of the cover- 

 ing earth. Neither is the plant to be stopped at 

 this stage. It is these buryings-up of the stems 

 of Melons, and the early stoppings of the lead- 

 ing shoots so generally practised, that render the 

 collars of Melon plants so extremely liable to 

 canker and fog off suddenly, as already pointed out 

 in the article on general Melon culture. 



One of the essentials of a proper condition is 

 that they shall be grown in good loam, pure 

 and simple. Manure in the soil is, as a rule, 

 too stimulating and transient in its' effects for ex- 

 press culture. Fibry loam of a somewhat tenacious 

 character, intermixed with some calcareous matters, 

 such as old mortar and lime rubbish, is the best 

 material for encouraging a profuse ramification of 

 roots. A foot of this laid over a few inches of 

 drainage to start with is sufficient. 



Method of Planting.— In planting keep the 

 collars of the plants well up above the surround- 

 ing level ; let them stand, in fact, on small mounds, 

 and in all cases where the base is one of ferment- 

 ing material, one or more drain-pipes, a yard or so 

 in length, of four or six inches bore, a block of wood 

 or stone, or a base of brick should be brought up from 

 the base of the house or pit to receive the soil for 

 the plants. This precaution will keep the stem of the 

 Melon the same distance from the glass during the 

 whole period from the start to the finish. It is 

 impossible to over-estimate the importance of this. 

 In hundreds of cases what is called canker at the 



collar is simply the result of the extreme tension put 

 upon the plant through the root of the Melon sink- 

 ing away from the root-trellis, and not seldom collar 

 or stem snaps just when the crop is half finished. 

 The old system of growing Melons on the soil of 

 dung-beds had this merit, that the plants and the 

 elastic bed fell together, and the modern dangers of 

 root-drawing or stem-snapping were wholly avoided. 



Fleet root-runs are also best for the express culture 

 of Melons, as these afford special facilities for the 

 enlarging of the food supply piecemeal as wanted. 



Successive Top Dressings. — With heat 

 lavish!)' applied, and the atmosphere in a state of 

 semi-saturation, root as well as top growth will be 

 exceedingly active. The roots will burst through 

 the soil and root upwards so rapidly as to cover 

 the surface almost as white as a sheet once a 

 week or oftener. So soon as this happens a thin 

 covering of loam should be applied and pressed 

 firmly down on the roots with the hand or a small 

 mallet. These frequent dressings not only act as 

 powerful stimulants to the roots, but feed them with 

 ever-new and sweet material as wanted. The fresh- 

 ness of the food is one of its greatest merits in the 

 express culture of Melons. Root-runs thus formed 

 tentatively do not get worn out or exhausted. 



Liquid Manure. — The surface feeding also keeps 

 the roots near to the surface, where they can readily 

 be provided with fresh food, liquid or solid. Liquid 

 manure is, in fact, one of the chief foods of Melons 

 under the express system of culture. The soil be- 

 comes more of a mere receptacle for the roots, as the 

 latter get so numerous as to fill to repletion every 

 clod and cranny of it. So long as these are suffi- 

 ciently strong and numerous, nothing can be more 

 simple than providing them with food. The best 

 food for Melons is a warm draught of soot- water or 

 a half-and-half brew of soot and cow or sheep 

 manure. This, of about the colour of porter, is 

 unrivalled as a stimulant for Melons in full swelling. 

 It should be freely used at a temperature of from 

 90° to 100 Q . During the earlier stages of growth 

 little or no manure- water should be used. If over- 

 stimulated before the fruits are set, there may be 

 some difficulty in insuring a crop under express 

 culture. But so soon as a full crop is set the pace 

 cannot well be too fast, and for several weeks after- 

 wards it is hardly an exaggeration to say that one 

 can see the fruit grow. 



Burying the Young 3Truit. — Where Melons 

 are grown on dung-beds by express, the speed may 

 be quickened immensely at first by burying the 

 young fruit in the warm soil so soon as it begins 

 to swell. The uniform heat and genial moisture 



