490 



CULTURE OF THE MELON IN BRITISH GARDENS. 



throw out fresh shoots. Of these the top ones must be preserved, and 

 stopped at every other joint ; and such as present themselves lower down 

 the stem must he taken off. When those retained get sufficiently long, they 

 must be tied down to the trellis with care, and after making two clear joints 

 each they must be stopped back to one. In general four shoots, trained 

 towards the four corners of the trellis till they reach within a foot of the 

 outer edge of the bed, will be sufficient. There they must be stopped. They 

 will now produce laterals, which should be thinned, three or four only being 

 left on each of the four main shoots, and the others should be taken off close 

 to the main stem out of which they grew. — {Mills s Treatise^ S^c, p. 60 

 and p. 7 ; and Dunean on the Melon, p. 44. ) 



SuBSECT. II. — Culture of the Melon as practised in British gardens. 



The following article was written for this work by Mr. Forsyth, though 

 it has appeared in the 16th volume of the Gardeners Magazine : — 



1038. The sorts I should cultivate are, a few Rocks, for their look at table 

 at expensive entertainments ; Green-fleshed, as being economical and fashion- 

 able (a middle-sized fruit about two lb. weight being considered the best) ; 

 and Persians, such as the Sweet Ispahan and Hoosainees, for their rich 

 aqueous pulp, and as by far the most delicate and delicious of the melon 

 tribe. 



1039. Very early melons may be grown in pots, one plant in each, to 

 mature one fruit, in the pine- stove, or in a house or pit on purpose, where a 

 wholesome high temperature is maintained of 75° or 80° ; the fruit may he 

 supported by being laid on a small earthenware saucer, inverted into a larger 

 one suspended from the roof. 



1040. Seedlings. — Melons planted out on a ridge, on a bed of tan, dung, 

 or leaves, under glass, may be advantageously cultivated in the following 

 manner. In any house, pit, or frame, where an atmosphere as above 

 described is maintained, sow some seeds in thumb-pots, one seed in each 

 pot, which must be kept near the glass after the plants are above-ground, 

 and be allowed a free circulation of air, in order to rear the plants as robust 

 and short-stemmed as possible ; but, though I detail the process of rearing 

 seedlings, I must not be understood to mean that they are equal to those 

 raised from cuttings, which process I shall here detail : — 



1041. Cuttings.— In an atmosphere as above described, let the cutting-pots, 

 prepared in the following manner, be placed half a day previous to their 

 being used, in order that the mould may be warm, to prevent a check by 

 cold soil to the bottom of an exotic cutting. If provided with a small crystal 

 bell-glass, or a small hand-light closely glazed, either of these may be used ; 

 but if provided with neither, which is nothing uncommon, you can doubtless 

 command as much glass in square or fragment, as will cover the mouth of a 

 48-sized pot. 



The cuttings should be taken from the extremities of the healthiest 

 vines, cut close below the third joint from the tip, and inserted in thumb- 

 pots filled with leaf-soil and loam mixed, about half an inch below the sur- 

 face of the soil ; and these placed in the bottom of a 48-sized pot, and the 

 cavity between the two pots stuffed with moist moss, and the glass laid over 

 the top of the outer pot, which ought to be plunged in a hotbed up to the 

 brim : this is an improvement in striking cuttings which I have never made 

 known before, nor have I ever seen it practised by any one else. It is a 



