MELON 407 



this time fresh branches are growing, which almost always bear 

 fertile or female flowers. Various modes of stopping the plant 

 have been suggested, all of which may be useful under certain 

 circumstances, but the method which we have just described has 

 been generally adopted in the neighbourhood of Paris, as the most 

 simple and usually the most sure. There are two things which 

 should not be lost sight of in growing Melons. One is, that 

 vigorous, healthy, well-grown leaves are indispensable for the pro- 

 duction of fine and good fruit. Care should therefore be taken to 

 grow and maintain as many leaves as can find room in the portion 

 of the frame where the plant is, without depriving one another of a 

 due share of air and light. The other important point is, that it is 

 almost always necessary to expedite the branching of the plants, in 

 order to cause the fruit to set as soon as possible ; for if the plant 

 is allowed to follow its natural mode of growth, it may only com- 

 mence to produce fertile or female flowers too late for the fruit to ripen 

 properly. As soon as there are a few fruit set, the best of them, or 

 that which, from its strength and position, promises the best growth, 

 should be selected, and all the rest pinched off. In forcing Melons, 

 only one fruit is left on each plant. The last thing to be done is 

 to cut away any useless branches that may make their appearance, 

 and to ensure the symmetrical growth of the fruit by raising it off 

 the hot-bed on a tile or small board, turning it so that it may, 

 as far as possible, rest on the part where it is united to the stalk. 

 Melons forced in this way sometimes ripen in April, but cannot be 

 expected to do so with certainty until May. 



Early Crop. — For this, the seed should be sown in the course 

 of February, up to the end of the month, and the plants are treated 

 in the same way as those which have just been described as "forced," 

 the same operations being simply repeated three or four weeks later. 

 This is a more certain crop than the previous one, as there is 

 less danger of frosty weather and a better supply of light. The 

 same varieties are now sown, and also the Cantaloup Prescott a Fond 

 Blanc, a kind which is somewhat larger and more esteemed at Paris 

 than the other two varieties. 



General Crop. — This crop is grown on by far the most 

 extensive scale at Paris, and is one in which the market-gardeners 

 excel. The seed is sown in the usual way in a hot-bed, and the 

 plants are planted out during May in hot-beds, which are generally 

 arranged in great numbers one before another, occupying a whole 

 square, or section of a garden. The varieties generally grown are 

 the Cantaloups Prescott d Fofid Blanc, Fond Gris, and Fond Blanc 

 Argente \ sometimes the Rock, or Algerian, Cantaloup, and (rarely 

 now) the Common Melon (^Melon Maraicher), When the plants 

 are well rooted, the lights are completely removed, sooner or later, 

 according to the prevailing temperature, and thenceforward, until 



