86 Upon the Cultivation of the Persian Varieties of the Melon, 



leaving a space of eight inches only between the advancing and re- 

 turning course of it; and the smoke escapes at the north east 

 corner of the building. The front flue is composed of bricks laid 

 flat, as I wished to have a temperate permanent heat, and the re- 

 turning flue of bricks standing on their edges, as is usual ; the 

 space between the flues is filled with fragments of burned bricks, 

 which absorb much water, and gradually give out moisture to 

 the air of the house. Air is admitted through apertures in the 

 front wall, which are four inches wide, and nearly three in height ; 

 and which are situated level with the top of the flues, and are 

 eighteen inches distant from each other. The air escapes through 

 similar apertures near the top of the back wall. These apertures 

 are left open, or partially, or wholly closed, as circumstances re- 

 quire. Thirty two pots are placed upon the flues described above, 

 each being sixteen inches wide at least, and fourteen inches deep ; 

 but they are raised by an intervening piece of stone and brick out 

 of actual contact with the flues. Into each of these pots one 

 Melon plant is put, which in its subsequent growth is trained upon a 

 trellis, placed about fourteen inches distant from the glass, and each 

 plant is permitted to bear one Melon only. Each might be made 

 to bear more, but if they should be as large as Ispahan Melons 

 when perfect are, they would certainly be of inferior quality. 

 The height from the ground, at which the trellis is placed, is such 

 that I can with convenience walk under it, and of course discover, 

 without difficulty the first appearance of red spiders, or other 

 noxious insects. 



When I left the country to come to London in the last spring, 

 my plants were growing most luxuriantly ; and their appearance 

 was every thing that I wished to be. But during my absence a 

 few red spiders appeared upon one of the plants, as I had antici- 

 pated, and my gardener, in consequence, and in obedience to my 

 instructions, sprinkled the under surfaces of the leaves frequently, 



