April 30, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
347 
scarlet-fleshed, and all have done good service in frames as well i 
as under house culture. Supposing the seed is sown early in 
April the plants would he fit to put out by the middle of May, 
while if sown at the present time they would be ready for plant¬ 
ing late in May or early in June, after which date it is not 
advisable to plant them in frames. It takes about four months 
from the time of sowing till the fruits are ripe, and from the 
earliest planted it is possible to obtain a second crop. For 
frame culture we always prefer raising our own plants, as those 
raised in houses are liable to be infested with various insect pests, 
and which when established on plants in frames are not easily 
exterminated. They say we should never look a gift horse in the 
mouth, but the happy recipients of Melon plants from their 
neighbours in larger places should form an exception to this 
rule. If such plants are either much root-bound or infested with 
red spider, thrips, or mealy bug, their best place is the rubbish 
heap. The early Cucumber frames, which are to be found in 
most private gardens, is the best place for raising Melon plants. 
Instead of sowing the seed thickly in pots—this usually result¬ 
ing in a number of tall weakly plants, and which will be 
great y checked when potted —it is a much better plan to sow 
the seed singly in 4-inch pots, from which size they may be 
planted out. Directly the seedlings are up they should be 
raised to near the glass and encouraged to grow sturdily. By 
the time they have formed a second pair of leaves they will be 
ready for planting, and if not planted soon they should be 
shifted into 6-inch pots, using good loamy previously warmed 
soil, and potting firmly. The plants being still kept in a light 
corner of the frame will thus continue growing, and when finally 
planted will make good progress at once. 
Either one or two plants may go to each hillock of soil. In 
the former case about two early stoppings will be necessary in 
order to obtain four leading growths, and when two are planted 
one stopping only is necessary. This stopping may, if the plants 
are growing strongly, be done before they are placed out, but 
they should not remain in the pots after they have started 
afresh. I ought perhaps to add that it is advisable, if over¬ 
heating is threatened, to place a layer of inverted turves under 
the soil, and this will moderate the heat. The plants must be 
planted very near to the glass and have the soil firmly rammed 
about the roots, this firmness resulting in the formation of 
sturdy fruitful growths rather than a Cucumber-like luxuriance. 
Two leading growths should be taken towards the back and two 
towards the front of the frame in each light, these being stopped 
when near the limit. The laterals may be thinned when this 
can be done with the finger and thumb, for if this judicious 
thinning is delayed till the frame is crowded with growths, and 
the knife has then to be freely used, much harm will inevitably 
result Before the plants have made much progress heaps of 
soil should be placed in the corners of the frames to be warmed 
through, and this must be added to the hillocks before these are 
covered with growth. Later on about 6 inches of soil can be 
disposed over the whole bed, and in this the roots will quickly 
find their way. 
From the first the “collars” or short main stems of the 
plant should be kept clear of shoots, as unless they harden 
properly they are very liable to canker, and this is quickly 
followed by a general collapse of the whole plant. With Melons 
it is usually necessary to set the whole crop almost simulta¬ 
neously, as if one or two fruits get the lead they monopolise the 
whole strength of the plant. If some of the earliest formed 
laterals are stopped at about the fourth joint, these will produce 
sub-laterals, and which will be fruitful and fit to set at the same 
time as the fertile blossoms produced on the end laterals of the 
main gi’owths. When a sufficient number of blossoms are opened, 
or will be opened in the course of another twenty-four hours, the 
frame should be ventilated early so as to dry them by 11 a.m. 
Bees will frequently do all the impregnating necessary, but it is 
not wise to leave this to insect agency, and the grower should at 
the time mentioned carefully rub the pollen-laden male blossoms 
on the stigma in the centre of the fertile blossoms or those with 
an embryo fruit attached. The frame should not be watered or 
damped on that day or the next, after which they maybe treated 
as 1 have yet to recommend. Extra large fruits not being 
wanted, each p'ant or pair of plants must be allowed to perfect 
six or eight fruits, any beyond that number being removed 
before they are as large as hen’s eggs. After the crop is set 
stop all the growths at the first or second joints beyond them, 
and continue to closely stop other shoots as they form, the aim 
being to secure a number of healthy fully developed leaves, 
rather than a thicket of weakly growths. The young fruits 
may at once be laid on pieces of slate, tile3, or glass, and 
later on may gradually be raised off the ground with the 
assistance of inverted flower pots. Unless this is done tb« 
under sides will have a bleached uninviting appearance. Neither 
do the fruits net satisfactorily unless they receive a fair amount 
of light, though not necessarily bright sunshine. 
The bottom heat throughout is best kept at about 75°, and 
this can be managed if occasional linings of heating material, 
including a moderate quantity of grass from the mowing machine, 
is occasionally built round the frame. Care, however, must be 
exercised, as if made too hot the delicate Melon roots quickly 
succumb, and the prospect of a good crop is lost On the other 
hand, if the bed is allowed to become cold a collapse may be the 
consequence, especially if the weather be comparatively sunless 
and water is too freely given. The heating ma'erial placed in 
cold pits does not so quicidy lose its heat, and if well prepared it 
may last until the crop is perfected. A top heat from 65° to 75° 
is suitable, air being given at the back of the frame early on 
bright days and in small quantities, so as to keep the tempe¬ 
rature at about 80°, closing early enough to raise the heat to 
about 90°, the frames to be matted over or otherwise covered 
every night. Sometjmes the heat of the frames unavoidably 
declines in dull weather, and in this case little or no damping 
should be done, and water must be given sparingly. When 
everything is going on satisfactorily water must be freely used, 
and always slightly above the temperature of the bed. The soil 
should be kept uniformly moist, and in clear weather plants in 
full bearing will require watering twice a week. Liquid manure 
is not easily given without disfiguring the foliage, but a slight 
sprinkling over the soil of guano, soot, or some kind of artificial 
manure may well be given when the crop is swelling. On all 
clear days the frame must be freely sprinkled with tepid water 
before it is closed, always avoiding wetting the collar of the 
plants. If any shade is given the material ought to be very thin, 
and applied during the hottest part of the day only. The plants 
being healthy, no drying off should be attempted, or at any rate 
not until the fruits give signs of cracking round the footstalk, 
when the frames should be kept drier and rather more airy. If 
a second crop is thought of, the heat must be raised again, more 
moisture given, and if much of the old bearing growth should be 
cut out, the young shoots being encouraged to spread will soon 
attain to a fruiting condition. 
Red spider, green and black fly, thrips, and canker are the 
principal enemies to the Melon, the former to be kept down by 
frequent sprinklings, and, if need be, a thorough coating of 
flowers of sulphur, and tobacco powder or tobacco water is the 
best preventive of the other insect pests. On the first signs of 
canker the affected parts should be scraped and coated with 
either cement or newly slaked lime, renewing this from time to 
time. Neither sand nor sulphur are good remedies, as they do 
not absorb the viscid matter which exudes from the diseased 
places.—W. I. 
STEM-ROOTS OF LILIUM AURA.TUM, 
My hearty sympathy with “ Scientia’s ” admiration for the 
lovely Madonna Lily (L. candidum), makes me wish I could 
endorse his remarks as to its never failing. Unfortunately I 
have the greatest difficulty in making this Lily succeed, in spite 
of trying it in all kinds of soils and situations during the past 
eight years; and although I grow many Lilies and get good 
blooms out of doors of some that are often considered shy, such 
as L. Krameri, L. Browni, L Washingtonianum, &c., the only 
fine examples of L. candidum I have ever grown were in heavy 
loam under a hot south-west wall. 
But in the matter of stem-roots of Lilium auratum and so- 
called “ sunstroke,” I have been wondering whether “ Scientia” 
has not inverted the usual sequence of cause and effect. The 
remark about more L. auratums failing than all other Lilies 
may be true, but it is much like saying that of all the roots 
brought into Covent Garden there are more rotten Potatoes 
than all the bad Turnips, Carrots, and Parsnips put together. 
Where thousands of one species are grown for every hundred 
or score of others, the actual number of bad specimens may be 
very great without proving that species to have a more delicate 
constitution. That the number of failures of Lilium auratum 
in proportion to the enormous numbers and infinite variety of 
conditions in which it is grown need really be considered as 
excessive, has yet to be demonstrated. I believe a valued con¬ 
tributor lately stated in these columns his conviction that before 
long people would buy their L. auratum annually like Hyacinths, 
than which they were hardly longer-lived, and there is no doubt 
that early in the season many bulbs are bought which—perhaps 
badly packed, or shipped before they were ripe by careless 
exporters, with a view of being first in the market—are flabby 
and soft, and seldom survive, especially if allowed to bloom the 
first season. But I find that by selecting sound dense bulbs my 
