NATURE OF THE MELON PLANT, &C. 259 



June, and supplies continued till October and 

 November. 



The plants are always raised from seed ; those 

 required for the early crop are sown in winter, 

 and for the main crops in spring ; the plants 

 must be raised in a hotbed, which is generally 

 done in a small one first, where they remain till 

 two, three, or four inches high, when they will 

 be of a proper age for transplanting into the 

 large melon frames, where they are to remain 

 for fruiting ; but where there is a hothouse with 

 a bark bed, or other sufficient heat to raise the 

 plants in, if a small dung hotbed is not wanted 

 early for other purposes, the seed may be sown 

 therein, and be transplanted direct into the 

 fruiting frames ; but the general methods will 

 be found more fully explained in the following 

 paragraphs, under their proper heads. 



DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF THE MELON, WtTH 

 OBSERVATIONS. 



Par. 46. — All the varieties of melons may be 

 considered exotics of very tender nature ; of 

 these, the Romana is one of the earliest and 



