488 



CULTURE OF THE MELON. 



pei-ature may be 70" and 80" for atmospheric heat, and some intermediate 

 degree, perhaps 75°, may be suitable for the soil. The atmosphere in the 

 countries where the melon is most successfully cultivated is so dry that the 

 plants depend almost entirely on surface irrigation and on dews. The soil in 

 which the melon is found to thri ve best is a fresh loam, rather strong than 

 light, such as may be obtained from an alluvial meadovr which is flooded 

 during the winter season. In Persia, pigeon's dung is used ; and in Britain 

 stable-dung, which has been thoroughly rotted, is commonly more or less 

 mixed with the soil ; but it is not desirable to introduce manure to such an 

 extent as to produce the same degree of luxuriance in the shoots which 

 might be desirable under a tropical sun. The melon in this country requires 

 all the light which it can receive, and therefore the plants must have their 

 shoots trained close under the glass, for which purpose a trellis is found 

 superior to the surface of the soil ; for unless this is the case, and abund- 

 ance of air is admitted, the fruit produced will be of very inferior flavour. 

 Early crops of the melon are with difficulty obtained in Britain, on account 

 of our cloudy atmosphere, by which evaporation from the foliage is checked, 

 and mildew and other diseases are produced. Late crops, it may easily be 

 supposed, are less liable to be affected in this way, from the greater degree 

 of light and heat admitting of more abundant ventilation. The varieties of 

 the melon belong to two races: the Persians and the Cantaloups. The 

 former are cultivated in this country with great difficulty, requiring a very 

 high temperature, a dry atmosphere, and an extremely humid soil. The 

 Cantaloups, which are so named from a place of that name in the ne h- 

 bourhood of Rome, are cultivated throughout Europe with great success, 

 and nowhere more so than in England. 



1037. Summary of culture for the Cantaloup melons. — The following 

 summary is evidently by the author of the article " Peach," in the Penny 

 Cyclopcedia ; at all events it is unquestionably the most scientific abridge- 

 ment of melon-culture which has hitherto appeared : — "About four months 

 may be allowed, on an average, for the period between the sowing of melons 

 and the ripening of the fruit. The middle of January is found to be early 

 enough to sow ; and the young plants are so exceedingly tender that acci- 

 dents are then very likely to occur to them. It is on this account neces- 

 sary to make successive sowings, in order to be prepared for replacement, 

 if requisite, and also for continuing the supply throughout the summer. 

 A sowing for the latest crops will require to be made in April. Melons 

 may be grown by means of frames on hotbeds (489 and 841), or in pits 

 (515), heated according to some of the various modes of hot-water applica- 

 tion, now so generally adopted ; but whatever be the form of the pits or 

 the mode of heating adopted, one point of essential importance is to have 

 the sashes glazed with the British sheet glass, as being much clearer than 

 the best crown glass, and as admitting of being used in panes of any length 

 under five feet, and consequently requiring very few or no laps. The 

 seeds are sown in pans, or in small pots, and transplanted into other 

 small pots when their seed-leaves are about half an inch broad. It is 

 best to put only a single transplanted melon into each pot. While 

 this is done in a separate frame, that which is intended for their future 

 growth and fruiting is prepared for their reception by placing small 

 hills, rather more than a foot high, of light rich mould below each sash, 

 and nearer to the back of the frame than the front. Care must be 



