554 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



MELONS AT WISLEY, 1914. 



Report by C. C. Titchmarsh, Trials Officer. 



Seventy-two stocks of Melon seed, comprising sixty-one varieties, 

 were received at Wisley for trial The seeds were sown on April 7. 

 Germination was good, and as soon as the seedlings were large enough 

 they were potted into 3-inch pots. On May 13 one plant of each 

 variety was planted in the house, and on May 30 a duphcate series 

 was planted in the frames. In each case the plants were placed 0.1 

 a mound of soil on a hotbed. All the plants made excellent progress 

 although no manures were applied. None was attacked by canker, 

 but Nos. 15, 40, and 53 became diseased in the upper portion of the 

 stem ; the cause of the attack was not determined. 



The Trials Officer is greatly indebted to Dr. Keeble and to Mr. 

 S. T. Wright for constant help in the preparation of the materials 

 upon which this report is based ; and to the Garden Foreman, Mr. 

 J. Wilson, who weighed and measured the fruits. 



The varieties showed not only differences in type of fruit, but also 

 in habit and vigour of growth. It is to be observed that strong, 

 rampant-growing varieties produce neither larger nor more numerous 

 fruits than those of a weaker, more compact habit of growth. It is 

 manifest, therefore, that varieties of the latter type possess a marked 

 advantage over those of the former, inasmuch as a greater number 

 of the more compact plants (and consequently a greater number of 

 fruits) can be grown in a given area. It was also observed that 

 varieties which found difficulty in setting fruit were of a coarse habit 

 of growth. 



Two important factors determine the habit of a melon plant : 

 (a) length of the internodes and petioles ; (b) the degree of bending 

 of the stem at the nodes. The smaller the angle between the inter- 

 nodes, the greater the number of nodes produced in a given distance. 



The following are the points of difference between the varieties, 

 noted during the progress of the trial : — ■ 



Flavour of fruit. 



Growth : Very strong ; strong ; weak. 



Petioles : Very long (exceeding 9 J in.) ; long (8-9 J in.) ; short 

 (6J-7i in.) ; very short (less than 6 in.). 



Internodes : Long (exceeding 3 in.) ; medium (3 in.) ; short 

 (less than 3 in.). 



Stem : Much bent ; bent ; almost straight. 



Fruit : Borne on first lateral branches ; borne on second lateral 

 branches ; round, oval, oblate ; external colour when unripe and 

 when ripe. 



