April 6, 1893. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
267 
PRACTICAL HINTS ON 
MELON CULTURE. 
1—_ - - » 
T O the majority of those who have been engaged in the growth 
of Melons on an extensive scale this subject presents peculiar 
attractions, doubtless because they see in the rapid growth and hand¬ 
some fruits a speedy return for the labour bestowed upon them. 
True, there are some who watch with intense interest and evident 
satisfaction the lingering growth of plants whose annual increase in 
size is of the most meagre description, but to the average man those 
forms of vegetation which create astonishment by the quickness of 
their growth give also the most gratifying results. To those who 
watch and tend them as their growth proceeds this pleasure is still 
further intensified, for it gives to the cultivator that inward satis¬ 
faction which causes him to regard as nought the labours which 
bring a reward so abundant and so good. 
The time occupied in producing Melons from the sowing of the 
seed till the fruits are ready to cut varies considerably according to 
the seasons at which the sowings are made. The plants from seed 
sown the first week in January with good culture will afford ripe 
fruits sixteen weeks after. From sowings made in March two 
weeks less are required to reach a similar stage. During the 
summer months I have on several occasions cut large handsome 
fruits from plants raised from seed sown only twelve weeks 
previously ; but to do this every advantage must be taken to 
secure high temperatures throughout the day by closing early and 
using the syringe freely. 
Each seed ought to be sown in a separate pot, as the plants 
then grow sturdily from the first, and the risk of their receiving a 
check at an early stage of growth is thus avoided. If 3-inch pots 
are used, the only drainage necessary is a piece of crock placed over 
the bottom, and covered with a lump of turfy soil or moss ; to 
either of these materials the roots quickly cling, and form good 
balls for placing into 6-inch pots, or for planting into the perma¬ 
nent beds. Care ought to be exercised in selecting the soil 
employed for 'sowing Melon seeds in, for I am firmly convinced 
that numbers of plants get into a stunted state in the earliest 
stages of their growth in consequence of the presence of minute 
insects in the soil. This undesirable state of affairs may easily be 
prevented if the compost is burned or thoroughly dried over a 
boiler at work before being used. Good loam, with a third of leaf 
soil added, is, I consider, the best for the purpose. Many employ 
loam without any additional material, but I find the roots work 
much more freely when leaf soil is added—this is an important 
consideration at that early stage. Press the soil moderately firm, 
and just cover the seed with it. 
With the early sowing there is often a difficulty in providing a 
good position for the young plants until they are large enough to 
plant in their final positions. Bottom heat is of great advantage, 
and yet the plants ought also to be kept near the glass. These 
two conditions are not generally found in conjunction with each 
other, unless special means are taken to secure them. It is easy 
enough to find a suitable place for the pots containing the seeds 
where they will receive bottom heat, by placing them on the hot- 
water pipes or plunging them in propagating frames ; but in either 
of these positions the seedlings are too far from the glass by the 
time the first pair of leaves are formed, consequently the stems 
become drawn at the outset; on the other hand, if at this stage they 
are taken from the bottom heat and placed on a shelf a check is 
No. 667.— VoL. XXVI., Thied Sheiks. 
received, and but slow progress is made. This difficulty may be 
overcome to a certain extent by standing the pots on a board raised 
above the pipes at the front of a well heated house or pit ; but 
when this course is adopted great care must be exercised to keep 
red spider at bay. The best of all plans is to make up a hotbed at 
one end of a house or pit, so that the young plants can be kept 
within a foot or 18 inches of the glass, and at the same time receive 
good bottom heat ; sturdy yet quick growth is then obtained. 
When such a position is afforded them it is a good plan to shift the 
plants into 5 or 6-inch pots, and grow them there till the roots 
have reached the sides of the pot, when they are ready for setting 
in the beds. 
I do not like the plan of using fermenting materials in Melon 
beds which are well supplied with pipes for affording bottom heat, 
because a strong heat is usually obtained to start with, and just at 
the time the plants require it most (when swelling their fruits) it 
is fast declining. This alone is a strong objection ; others are the 
constant watching required to keep shoots from being cut with the 
tying material, as the bed sinks, and the great trouble experienced 
with woodlice whenever this practice is adopted. Unfortunately, 
however, the bottom heat pipes are frequencly placed too low, so 
that it is absolutely necessary to devise some means of raising the 
plants considerably above them. Some recommend using large 
pieces of wood or clinkers, but if a layer of these a foot or more 
in thickness has to be employed very little heat reaches the .soil in 
which the plants are growing. I find the best plan under the 
circumstances is to place a row of bricks on each side, add other 
layers until the required height is reached. Then lay cross pieces 
of boards, rough wood, or slate slabs, to form the foundation of 
the bed, and over this place another layer of birch, straw, or 
clinkers to prevent the soil from passing between the interstices 
when wood is used, or from becoming sodden when slate slabs 
are employed. If this plan is followed a chamber of heated air 
will be formed beneath the bed, which will maintain the soil at a 
more uniform temperature than it can be kept at if either of the 
previously mentioned methods are adopted. If a space from 
9 inches to a foot in depth is left for the soil, ample root room 
will be afforded. 
The distance apart at which the plants should be set ought to 
be determined by the length of rafter allowed for top growth. In 
many instances only a portion of the roof is available for covering 
with Melon shoots, on account of the upper parts cf it being fitted 
with shelves devoted to the growth of plants in pots, which leaves 
only about 4 or 5 feet run of rafter for the Melon shoots. When 
such is the case 3 feet apart is about the right distance for the 
plants ; but where another foot or two of roof space is at command 
the plants will succeed admirably if set from 6 inches to a foot 
nearer to each other. 
In preparing the soil for Melons one often has a great variety 
of materials to deal with, for it is seldom that the ideal Melon soil 
can be obtained. A good turfy yellow loam, rather adhesive in 
texture, i^ generally regarded as the most suitable, and I doubt 
not that such a soil will with but little preparation produce fine 
Melons, but when this commodity is scarce I think it may with 
advantage be reserved for other purposes where soils more easily 
obtained may be rendered capable of producing equally good 
Melons, with a little extra attention in the way of preparation. 
Stiff loams without a particle of fibre will grow grand crops of 
Melons ; so will garden soil of a heavy nature. The former should 
be stacked in a heap with layers of fresh horse droppings sprinkled 
with salt placed between layers of soil, these being a foot in 
thickness and the manure 3 inches. If this remains in the heap 
for twelve months it will require no other addition than one 
load of lime rubble to six of soil, with a little soot added. 
The garden soil if rich should have the same quantity of lime 
rubble and soot, and half a load of wood ashes; but if manure 
has not been recently added to it, one load of fresh horse droppings 
No. 2323.— VoL. LXXXVIII., Old Skeies 
