THE FOUCIXG GARDEN. 



74^ 



at much less expense, than by using lights of glass entirely. 

 Such frames may be made exactly similar to those, which are 

 made to be covered with glass sashes, or they may be made 

 of inch-and-half boards, extending the whole length of the 

 bed or ridge without any divisions, and the back and front 

 connected by rafters, on which to support the sashes. Such 

 frames, if taken care of, will last for many years, and the 

 lights may be used for protecting the blossoms of peaches, 

 nectarines, &c. in spring, as hinted at in the Fruit Garden. 



Some gardeners use these frames fi'om the beginning, but 

 the proper time for having recourse to them is when the plants 

 have been forwarded under hand or bell-glasses, till their run- 

 ners require training out beyond the limits of the glasses, 

 which is generally the case sometime in the course of this 

 month. These paper screens should entirely cover the bed 

 and plants, over which they are to remain during the rest of the 

 season ; they will afford protection fi'om heavy rains or tem- 

 pests, as well as from nocturnal cold, and also screen the plants 

 from the excessive heat of the sun, as being pellucid, they ef- 

 fectually admit the influence of light and warmth. 



Where the ridges for melons have been made parallel to 

 each other, the spaces between them should be filled up with 

 leaves, dung, or the refuse of the garden, such as leaves of 

 cabbages, weeds, and other fermentable matter ; this will give 

 additional heat to the beds, and when filled up, increase the 

 space on which to train the plants. The general management 

 of them now differs in few respects from that of those in pits 

 or frames. (For earthing up, setting, training, and pruning, 

 see the preceding month.) 



Melons are subject to be infected and injured by the mil- 

 dew, and also by the canker. These diseases here, as in all 

 other cases, proceed fi-om bad management ; that is, the cli- 

 mate is bad in which they live. There may be an insufficiency 

 of heat, and the dung and mould are then too moist, by which 

 I stagnated heat is produced; or it may arise from damp, 

 occasioned by over-watering or imperfect sashes, and not un- 

 usually from injuries sustained in their branches, by being 

 bruised or too much cut at once. Nothing will prevent plants 

 from the attacks of insects or disease but heat sweet air, and 



