346 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND C011AGE GARDENER. 
[ April SO, 1833. 
P. antennifera, and after they were established I gave one to a 
gardener at Fulham (by no means the best plant), who hung it 
in the East Indian house, and last August, at the time of the 
sale there it had three pairs of good leaves. It was then re¬ 
turned to my cai’e, and was placed in equally as warm and moist 
a house, but by Christmas the plant lost three of its lower 
leaves. 
The finest plants of P. Schilleriana I have seen are at 
Croydon Lodge. Mr. Carr, the gardener, grows them in a large 
stove hanging over some fine specimens of Eucharis amazonica, 
which are liberally supplied with liquid manure all through their 
growing season. The largest plant has twelve full-grown leaves, 
and I tbink three growths. The largest leaf is 16 inches long, the 
smallest, is 10 inches, producing a splendid branching spike 
4 feet 7 inches long, bearing eighty-eight blooms. At a garden 
in Elmers End, Beckenham, I recently saw some P. amabilis 
and P. granditiora in baskets with the compost as decayed as 
could be, but the roots were as healthy as anyone would wish to 
see, and the leaves leathery. These were also growing above 
other plants. I should be the last to recommend any person to 
allow the moss to remain in the baskets when decayed, but 
simply mention the fact in support of my argument. 
1 have under my care about sixty Phalgenopses, of various 
species and varieties, and although I have lost but few, I have 
been unable until now to grow them ; they have generally lost an 
equal number of leaves to those they make in a season We 
have shifted them from one house to another, and from corner 
to cornei’, and the results have always been about the same, 
except one season, when they were hung in a warm vinery I 
think they made somewhat better growth, but I did not guess 
the cause of it. Now the majority in their native homes are 
growing on branches of trees with foliage luxuriating around 
and below, and to imitate this I believe is the secret of success. 
Mr. Heims, gardener to F. A. Philbrick, Esq., Q.C., Oldfield, 
Bickley, has set an example which deserves the attention of at 
least those who have hitherto failed in growing Phalsenopses A 
few days ago, when in the house lately figured in your columns, 
I saw 300 plants, and although I looked closely into them, I 
could not find more than one but what was healthy and carrying 
fine leaves (I have thought since that that one might be P. Lowi, 
I did not think of inquiring at the time) and the old flower stools 
are evidence of what they have done. They are undoubtedly the 
finest examples 1 have ever seen in any private collection, and 
the owner and grower may well be proud of them. The plants, 
as represented, are all grown in baskets suspended from a wire 
trellis fixed to the roof and the borders beneath are covered in a 
dense mass with Cyrtodeira fulgida, Fittonias, and Pileamuscosa 
(Artillery Plant). 1 firmly believe this to be the only manner 
to g ow them satisfactorily, and the nearest approach to nature. 
This undergrowth evidently gives off something which stimulates 
the plants above. Although not envious of Mr. Heim’s success, 
the sight of his plants set me thinking, and I have now formed 
a border similar to his and hung our plants over it. It is yet 
too soon to say positively how they will succeed, but I never felt 
more confident of anything than that this is the right way to 
grow them 
Before commencing to write this I endeavoured to call to 
mind every place I could remember seeing Phalnenopses growing, 
and in almost every instance where the plants were on bare 
stages, mounted over, or hanging up with no undergrowth, the 
plants have been a source of trouble and anxiety, but where they 
are growing just above other foliage, and in some instances with 
very little attention, they are all that could be desired. 
I know some that are doing fairly well hanging over water 
a.nd even over the steam of a hot-water tank, but rain water 
contains a certain quantity of ammonia salts. They want some¬ 
thing besides the ordinai-y heat, moisture, and shade. I imagine 
the condition of the fine plants at Croydon Lodge is mainly due 
to the ammonia arising from the liquid manure used for the 
Eucharis, together with the carbonic acid gas given off: by the 
leaves at night.—G. W. Cummins, The Grange, Wallington. 
FRAME CULTURE OF MELONS. 
Now that well-heated glass houses are so plentiful we are 
apt to think them indispensable for many purposes, including 
Melon culture, overlooking the fact that there are innumerable 
places were no such conveniences are provided, and also that as 
good Melons have been and can be again grown in frames as 
have ever been cut from house-grown plants. It is true they 
are, as a rule, grown to a much larger size in forcing houses, but 
in too many cases the gain in size and appearance does not com¬ 
pensate for loss in quality. Plenty of instances annually occur 
where frame-grown fruits have surpassed those grown in houses, 
and that too in open competition. Let those, then, who are 
unable to devote any house room to Melons set to work and see 
what they can do with them in frames, and for the encourage¬ 
ment of the inexperienced—and among the inexperienced I would 
include in this case many young gardeners who have been trained 
in large gardens where Melons are grown in houses only—I may 
state having known instances where beginners have been sur¬ 
prisingly successful. 
To attempt to grow Melons in frames without bottom heat 
would simply be a waste of time and space- They must have 
bottom heat, not merely at the commencement, but throughout 
the life of the plants. Even in the case of heated pits bottom 
heat must be provided or no reliance can be placed upon the 
crop. I admit that it sometimes happens that Melons have been 
grown literally in cold frames, but it was under skilful treatment 
and the season favourable. Such sorts as Monroe's Little Heath 
and the true old Cantaloupe, from which the former most pro¬ 
bably originated, have been grown in cold pits and frames, and 
none but those with a very pronounced taste for Melons would 
ask for a second slice from one of the fruits thus secui’ed. For 
affording a mild and fairly lasting bottom heat I pi’efer a mixture 
of leaves and stable manure, and at this late season the bulk of 
the material has already been once used for forcing Rhubarb, 
Seakale, and other somewhat similar purposes, to this being 
added a quantity of stable manure that has been thrown in a 
heap for a few days and become hot. If all f resh material be used, 
whether this include leaves or only either farmyard or stableyard 
manure, the two latter should be well prepared before being 
formed into a hotbed. If thrown into a heap for a week or 
until such times as it becomes thoroughly hot, then before it has 
heated dry in the centre it is turned inside out and again allowed 
to stand for about a week, much of the dangerous rank heat will 
have escaped. If, however, it is still found to be violently hot, 
and no leaves are available for mixing with it, another turning 
will be necessary. Should it heat dry at any time, it must,, as it 
is turned, be well moistened with water, or otherwise it will be 
useless for heating purposes and spoilt as a manure. 
At this period of the year it is not necessary to form a very 
deep hotbed, as the time for cold searching winds will soon be 
past. If much old material is used the beds may well be from 
4 to 5 feet high at the back and a foot less in front, while the 
fresh material may be 3 to 4 feet high at the back and rather 
less in front. A well-drained sunny site should be selected, the 
bed facing south, and the material well shaken out, as the bed is 
rather firmly formed. Jt usually happens that the frames are 
all required for the preparation of various summer bdeding 
plants, the production of a few early vegetables, or the raising 
of plants for the kitchen garden; but where it can be managed 
one frame should at once be given to the Melons, even if only a 
single-light box, the aim being to secure a good succession of 
fruits in preference to risking a glut. I should advise that the 
beds be formed about 1 foot wider all round than the frame, 
and when this is stood on, a layer of the shortest of the manure 
be distributed over the surface of the bed. 
The best soil for Melons is a rather clayey loam, nothing 
being better than that which may be procured from immediately 
below the turf in a good meadow. Many employers object to 
their gardeners cutting turf, and it certainly does spoil land 
unless some q>ains are taken to supply good soil in its place, 
either sowing this with grass seed or placing on it small 
patches of turf. However, some latitude must be shown if the 
gardener is to grow Melons and other plants, while on the other 
hand the gardener must also be reasonable. Let the latter roll 
back a thin strip of turf, remove 5 or 6 inches of soil beneath, 
upon this place good garden soil, return the turf, and well beat 
down, and I venture to say he will not be aqain interfered with. 
Those who cannot dig their own soil should procure a load of 
loam, turfy or otherwise, and may, if necessary, increase the bulk 
by the addition of one part in three of garden soil. Very little 
if any manure should be added to the soil, and clayey loam 
especially is much benefited by the addition of a 6-inch potful 
of newly slaked lime to every bushel of soil. At the commence¬ 
ment only a mound, or about 2 bushels of soil, should be qilaced 
in the centre of each light and the lights put on. When the 
soil is thoroughly warmed, and the trial stick, which ought 
always to be kept plunged in the centre of the bed, denotes 
that the heat is not excessive, and the stick can be comfortably 
held in the hand, the time has arrived for planting. 
While the beds are being prepai’ed the plants ought also 
to be in readiness. At one time we only grew Victory of 
Bath and Scarlet Gem, then we next favoured Golden Queen 
and Read’s Hybrid, but now we find these have deteriorated and 
have Hero of Lockinge and Blenheim Orange instead. The 
first-mentioned in each case is green-fleshed, and the others 
