THE MELON, 



669 



fig. 658, may be considered all that can be 

 desired upon a large scale. Davidson's cucum- 

 ber-house, fig. 655, and Ayres', fig. 657, will 

 meet the requirements of smaller establish- 

 ments. Whoever has seen the beautiful narrow 

 curvilinear melon-houses in the Viceroyal Gar- 

 dens at Dublin, where the roofs are literally 

 covered with fruit of great excellence, and in all 

 stages of growth, will at once admit the great 

 advance made in this department of culture. 

 Melons are seldom as yet cultivated so as to 

 fruit during the winter months; the reason 

 hitherto has been, the want of proper accom- 

 modation, and the almost universal cultivation 

 of thick-skinned varieties, like the Eocks, &c, 

 requiring the full effects of our " dog - days' 

 sun," to penetrate a skin so formidable, and 

 to render the pulp within it eatable. Both 

 these obstacles are now greatly overcome — viz., 

 eligible structures are prepared for them, and 

 varieties whose skin is not much thicker than 

 that of a russet-apple are in very great repute, 

 and are not now uncommon. Of the possibility, 

 therefore, of producing the melon during winter, 

 or at least continuing it much later, and pro- 

 ducing it much earlier in the season, there is no 

 doubt. That the melon, from want of sufficient 

 sun during the dark months of autumn and early 

 spring, will ever be inferior in flavour to those rip- 

 ened during the bright days of summer, is suffi- 

 ciently obvious; the difference, however, would 

 not be much greater than that between a pine- 

 apple ripened at Christmas and another in Au- 

 gust; yet a pine at the former period is, apart 

 from direct flavour, as valuable and as much 

 prized as one at the later season. There is a 

 useful section of this fruit called Winter melons, 

 of which the Valentia, a well-known sort, is one, 

 and the Dampsha is another. These will keep a 

 long time after they are cut — say from the end 

 of October to the middle of December — if only 

 hung up by the stalk in a net in a dark cool 

 room. And. these might be grown so as to ripen 

 at even a later period, while Fleming's hybrid 

 Ispahan varieties could be ripened by the middle 

 of March. 



Propagation. — This is most usually by sow- 

 ing seed, although some do so by cuttings ; 

 and certainly, when several sorts are grown 

 in the same structure, and there is a desire to 

 continue the variety pure and unchanged, the 

 latter mode is the best. In propagating by seed, 

 a bottom heat of from 75° to 85° is essential; and 

 seed of more than two or three years' keeping 

 is preferred, as the plants from this do not grow 

 so much to wood as plants from younger seed do. 

 The seed should be sown in shallow pans instead 

 of in ordinary pots, as the roots coming in con- 

 tact with the bottom of the pan extend horizon- 

 tally instead of perpendicularly, and hence 

 become better furnished with fibres. The soil 

 should be one-half rich loam and one-half vege- 

 table mould, and the atmospheric temperature 

 of the seed-bed should range from 70° to 80°, 

 which must be kept up, notwithstanding there 

 is a little ventilation during day and night. 

 When potting takes place, which should be when 

 the two cotyledon leaves are nearly formed, 

 two plants should be placed in each 5-inch pot, 

 VOL. II. 



and the soil should be dry, and brought up 

 to the temperature of that the seedling plants 

 have been growing in. Do not set the plants 

 deep in the soil, but when the pot is about 

 three parts filled, set the roots upon it, and 

 merely cover them at first, allowing them to 

 recline on the inner edges of the pots : in a day 

 or two afterwards, add a little more dry warm 

 soil over the roots, and so on till the pot be 

 filled, giving water in moderation, for the melon 

 in its young state is very liable to damp off, 

 particularly if much vapour exist in the pit at 

 an early period of the season. Melons sown on 

 the first of January, which is early, under the 

 dung-bed system, will require six weeks' nursing 

 in the seed-bed before planting out. Those 

 sown about the first of February will require 

 five weeks, and those about the same period in 

 March from three to four weeks, the nursing 

 period decreasing with the season. Those who 

 would attempt fruiting melons during winter, 

 should have their plants established in the 

 fruiting house or pit by the middle of August, 

 or cultivate some of the sorts so successfully 

 grown by Mr Fleming, and referred to at p. 672, 

 which, under good management, may produce 

 fruit during winter. Mr Cuthill, in speaking of 

 melons sown on the first of February, which 

 is a good time for an early crop, remarks in 

 his " Practical Treatise on the Melon," p. 38 : 

 " Your plants have by this time been once 

 stopped, say 5th March, and the fruiting pit 

 or frame got ready; the hills ought to be 15 

 or 18 inches from the glass; the plants thrive 

 much better on account of the great body of 

 air ; the first hills ought to be 1 foot high, 

 composed of half loam, the other half leaf or 

 any other light mould ; no dung mixed with 

 the hills. In planting out, let one plant take 

 the back, the other the front of the pit or frame; 

 watering depends on the state of things at the 

 time. In the course of a short time they will 

 want another stopping. As the roots appear, 

 lead them down the hills by covering them with 

 a little mould, adding at the same time about 2 

 inches of mould over the surface of the bed; 

 and as the roots cross the bed, when they make 

 their appearance they must be covered with 

 mould, kept in pots in the pit on purpose, and 

 continue doing so until the fruit be all set, but 

 after that time they must not be disturbed, 

 neither must the bed be over-moulded. When 

 finished, the hills ought to be 4 inches higher 

 than the surrounding mould; 6 or 8 inches," 

 Mr C. considers, "is quite enough for very early 

 melons. Allow three or four runners from each 

 plant, and when they grow to within 6 or 8 

 inches of the sides of the frame, stop them. 

 They in a few days put out their side shoots 

 with fruit in abundance. Stop them one joint 

 beyond the fruit upon each plant. If one or 

 two be wanted very early, cover the fruit with 

 sand or dry mould. After it gets the size of a 

 walnut, you may plunge a thermometer if you 

 want to know the heat, when it will be found 

 the fruit is swelling rapidly in a bottom heat of 

 about .90°, or 15° more than the atmosphere of 

 the pit ought to be kept at. Syringe a great 

 deal over head and round the flues with diluted 



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