THE CULTURE OF THE MELON. 
85 
in this rough way, and producing, upon an 
average, three fruit to each plant, coming in 
good season with very little trouble or atten- 
tion, but merely giving air in the heat of the 
day, and closing and covering up with mats 
at night. There would be no immediate 
occasion to go to work so simply as this with 
a choice variety of Melon ; but it would be 
quite as unadvisable to set about it with any 
vast preparation ; and as to the soil in which 
it is to grow, nothing that has yet been re- 
commended beats a rich strong loam, fully 
charged with decayed vegetable matter. The 
turfs cut to lay down for lawns, if laid toge- 
ther and rotted, form the very best compost 
that can be used, taking growth and flavour 
into consideration. It is, however, requisite 
that such compost should be freed from grub, 
wire-worm, and all other vermin, which turfs 
are too frequently full of about the time the 
sward has rotted, as in almost all cases wire- 
worms and grubs are in among the roots them- 
selves, and are removed with the turfs. 
Decayed turfs are in almost all cases sandy 
enough, strong enough, and rich enough, and 
require very rarely anything else. If, how- 
ever, contrary to ordinary cases, the stuff may 
appear too adhesive, the best addition that can 
be made is road scrapings ; but we have rarely 
seen rotted turfs that were not every way 
adapted for the earthing of a Melon bed. We 
are not going here to speak of new modes 
of heating, confident that nothing we have 
seen at shows or tasted at feasts have beaten 
the productions of an ordinary dung bed. 
We shall speak of those only, in the first 
instance. Whatever substitutes may be found 
in hot-water pipes, tanks for bottom heat, 
open gutters for moisture, and what not, may 
be treated of in their several places. In the 
meantime, we set out with the most choice 
variety of Melon, and nothing but well-pre- 
pared dung and a three light box, with the 
loam formed of rotted turfs for our compost. 
It may, however, be well to observe, that 
these rotted turfs may be considered half 
good loam and half vegetable mould ; for 
the turf, as it is growing, forms more than 
half the bulk, and is, by the time it is wanted, 
pure vegetable mould. 
PREPARATION OF THE BED. 
By turning over hot stable dung repeatedly 
during a fortnight or three weeks, so as to 
shake it well out and mix it altogether, put- 
ting this day the outside in and the inside 
outwards, sprinkling it with water where it is 
heating too much, and well turning it about, 
the dung will become moderately warm all 
through, and in a fit state to form a proper 
hot-bed. Pile this dung up neatly, and in 
even layers, into a square-sided heap about a 
foot larger every way than the frame which 
is to go on, and about three feet six inches 
high; put on the frame, and the glass on il, 
and thrust a long stick with a point to it into 
the dung, about half way down, far enough to 
reach the centre of tin; heap, and leave it 
there; because, by withdrawing this at any 
time and putting your hand to it, you can feel 
whether it is too hot or too cold, or about 
right ; the stick, being returned to the place, 
will continue to be a test of the internal heat. 
Put three inches of loam all over the inside 
of the frame. 
SOWING THE SEED AND AFTER MANAGEMENT. 
Sow the seed the first week in February, in 
a large sixty-sized pot of the soil we have 
mentioned. Put three seeds in a pot, and get 
them into cucumber frames already going on, 
or into the bed already described ; only it is a 
pity some other beds are not provided for 
getting up the seedlings, because the bed pre- 
pared as directed should be ready just at the 
time the plants are ready to go out. As soon 
as the seedlings have two good rough leaves, 
change them into forty-eight-sized pots, the 
three plants as they are, without disturbing 
the balls of earth. Let them have water to 
refresh them, and occasional air by raising 
the back of the lights. You may now pinch 
the tops off, just close down to the second 
pair of rough leaves. If you have been 
obliged to use the first-made bed for raising 
the seed, you must prepare one for the fruit- 
ing ; but if you have been able to raise your 
seedlings in other frames, and you have so 
timed the preparation of a three-light box, 
after the manner we have directed, as to be 
just ready for the reception of the plants, a 
barrowful of the compost may be placed in 
a heap under each light, which, in our three- 
light box, will make three heaps. Into each 
of these heaps we propose to turn out one of 
the pots of plants. The cone thus formed in 
the middle of the light may remain a few 
hours, which will warm the mould through ; 
the centre is then formed into a hole, so as to 
take the ball of earth entire, with the -three 
plants in it. 
RIDGING THE PLANTS OUT. 
The pots of plants selected for the fruiting 
bed should be those which have the shortest 
joints— that is, whose leaves, which come out 
at joints only, are nearest to one another ; and 
any that have lateral branches shooting out 
are to be preferred to those which have not. 
Turn the pot wrong side upwards, and knock 
the edge of it against the frame, when the ball 
will leave entire. This ball is to be placed 
in the centre of a heap, so that the bottom of 
the ball may be resting on the original level 
loam three inches from the dung ; the heap of 
