April 20, 1893. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
309 
and a true bug though winged. It was not referred to in con¬ 
nection with that tribe because I was not then aware the insect 
occurred in flower gardens, but I have now been informed it has 
been found infesting Carnations and other flowers. This is the 
Aleyrodes, of which we have two British species, a tiny creature 
that has the wings covered with white dust, and holds them 
horizontally. It is well known also as a pest to the Tomato, and, 
like the little thrips, by its activity and its numbers it can do 
much mischief in weakening plants.— Extomologist. 
PRACTICAL HINTS ON MELON CULTURE. 
(Continued from page 291.') 
To secure the proper fertilisation of individual blooms is a 
matter by no means difflcult to perform, and yet a full even crop 
of Melons is the exception rather than the rule. This is fully 
accounted for by the fact that if some of the flowers are fertilised 
a few hours before others on the same plant, the fruits from the 
latter will drop after swelling slightly. This is not in consequence 
of fertilisation being improperly performed, because if the leading 
fruits are removed the later ones will swell satisfactorily. It is, 
however, a peculiarity of Melons that if a few fruits take the 
lead and are not speedily checked by bending the shoots as pre¬ 
viously advised, no others will swell until these early fruits have 
reached the first stage of their development. This will show how 
important it is to have the requisite number of flowers fully 
expanded at the same time before artificial fertilisation is 
attempted. 
When the flowering stage is reached the house should be kept 
rather dry, a moderate circulation of air being given, so as to have 
the pollen dry by midday. The staminate flower should then be 
picked from the plant, have the corolla removed, and be placed 
upon the stigma of the pistillate flower. Before doing so, however, 
I always like to touch the anthers on the back of the hand, to make 
quite sure the pollen is dry ; if it is not the flower should be 
rejected and another tried. This simple test will often prevent 
much disappointment. Some cultivators keep the atmosphere of a 
Melon house excessively dry during the flowering period, and are 
rewarded for their pains by a colony of insects shortly after. The 
plan I have practised very successfully for several years is on bright 
mornings to damp the floors early and then withhold moisture till 
an hour after the flowers have been fertilised ; the ventilation is 
then reduced, leaving a crack at the top of the house, the floors are 
damped lightly, and the plants sprayed with the syringe whenever 
this can be accomplished without wetting the pistillate flowers. 
Should the weather prove dull a good amount of heat is kept in 
the hot-water pipes, and the floors of the house and leaves of the 
plants in the driest positions only are syringed. 
As soon as a good set is obtained the plants may be thoroughly 
syringed twice daily in bright weather and once during dull days. 
When the fruits are beginning to swell freely early closing, with 
abundance of moisture, should be practised, as it not only hastens 
the growth of them, but also does much toward securing large 
handsome specimens. It is perfectly safe to close a Melon house 
at 2 P.M. during the hottest day in summer, provided abundance of 
moisture is used both on the floors and plants. Should evaporation 
speedily take place another syringing ought to be given an hour 
after on very bright days. 
I have tried many methods of supporting the fruits, but con¬ 
sider none better than accomplishing it by means of three pieces 
of string or thick raffia grass tied to the wires and twisted together 
under the centre of the fruit ; as the latter swells the strings can be 
slightly lengthened. I like to thoroughly examine the supports to 
every fruit, when colouring begins, to see that each is perfectly 
upright and secure ; when this is not the case fine fruits some¬ 
times have a provoking way of breaking away at the stem. To 
make them secure against this it is a good plan to fasten a piece of 
raffia grass around each fruit about half way up, twisting it round 
each of the vertical strings, and drawing it tight enough to fit close 
to the outline of the fruit ; it is'then perfectly safe from falling or 
breaking away at the stem. 
Watering is without doubt one of the most important opera¬ 
tions connected with Melon culture. No matter how well all other 
details are attended to, if the watering is improperly performed 
mediocre if not disastrous results will follow. During the early 
stages of growth before roots have become plentiful great care 
should be exercised in applying it, as it is better to err on the side 
of dryness than in the opposite direction ; but when the fruits are 
about half grown roots become extremely active. Then if water 
is withheld for only a few hours after it should have been given a 
stunted tough-skinned fruit is the result, and frequently the plants 
show signs of distress for a long time after, and can only be pre¬ 
vented collapsing altogether by careful shading. 
Perhaps the stage at which healthy Melon plants require the 
most water is when the fruit is netting, for by that time the soil 
has become thoroughly permeated with roots, and the slightest 
check caused through drought will then spoil the natural character 
of the netting. Instead of being small in the mesh and evenly 
marked all over the fruit, large cracks are produced here and there, 
through which a gummy exudation may be perceived shortly after 
water is given. The evil often does not end here, for many of the 
small roots having been destroyed the plant becomes unable to 
support a heavy crop of fruit without showing signs of flagging 
and with fewer roots ; these being also lessened in activity, much 
less moisture is extracted from the soil, except on the surface, where 
evaporation is rapid. This often misleads an anxious cultivator, 
and induces him to apply water before it ought to be given, in the 
hope that flagging may be prevented ; the soil then becomes 
thoroughly sodden and the plant succumbs. In nine cases out of 
ten this is attributed solely to overwatering, whereas that is only 
the secondary cause, the root of the evil being neglecting to water 
soon enough. 
Withholding water while the fruits are ripening is, without 
doubt, very much overdone. If the plants are kept in good health, 
and a little growth allowed to extend, no lessening of the supply 
need take place till the fruits are evenly coloured, and then it 
should be only slightly reduced. When they give out a rich aroma 
I prefer to cut the fruits and place upon a dry shelf for twenty- 
four hours before sending to table. A good deal of discretion 
must be exercised as to the exact time when the fruits of each 
variety should be cut, for they differ considerably in that respect, 
according to the thickness of their skins. Hero of Lockinge requires 
to hang longer than any variety with which I am acquainted. 
—Labor Omxia Vixcit. 
(To be continued.! 
CUCUMBERS FOR MARKET. 
Ix modern horticulture the tendency to simplify treatment without 
limiting production is very marked. Elaborate cultivation, once the 
rule, is now fast becoming the exception, and good returns can be 
secured without the extensive and complicated process formerly 
regarded as indispensable. The improvement I have indicated is easily 
seen in the rapid development of the Cucumber as an article of commerce. 
The growing demand for Cucumbers, if it has not created a new 
industry, may safely be asserted to have made ijwnense advances on an 
old one. Probably Cucumbers enter the markets now by the hundred 
where a few years back they did not amount to dozens, and their pro¬ 
duction increases largely yearly. On the other hand, I see no reason to 
doubt that the demand keeps pace with the supply. One point in the 
Cucumber grower’s favour is the low price at which the fruit is sold, 
while the per-centage of profit remains high. The average market price 
during the summer season may be fixed at 2s. per dozen, and they are 
extremely unlikely to decline below that figure, which I am inclined to 
think is the minimum. 
Cucumbers are not much in request until April, at which time prices 
range high. The usual practice is to sow the seed in the first week of 
the new year. The plants are ready to put out about the middle of 
February, and come into bearing towards the end of March, and con¬ 
tinue till June, when they are cut out and a second batch planted. By 
these means a continual supply of fruit is furnished until late in 
November. No bottom heat is used, the Cucumbers being planted on 
the ground in small hillocks, with hot-water pipes around but not under 
them, the heating power of which is sufficient to maintain a temperature 
of in severe weather. 
It, would seem impossible to bring Cucumber plants into bearing 
before March wdthout more elaborate treatment, bearing in mind how 
susceptible they are to checks. But a grower near Enfield has this year 
taken the lead by fruiting Cucumbers quite a month earlier than usual. 
No bottom heat was used, the plants being grown in the manner 
described above. Certainly the man is unrivalled in this particular 
branch of horticulture, having for some years been foreman in one of 
the large establishments owned by the Messrs. Rochford. The variety 
used was the Cucumber which bears the name of those noted fruit 
growers. The plants do not appear to have been at all weakened 
for future cropping by the ordeal through which they have passed. 
Rochford’s Cucumber is in universal request for market purposes in 
the north of London, and in many places has superseded Telegraph, 
which at one time was considered the best variety. In the neighbour¬ 
hood of Enfield we have three of the Rochford Brothers’ mammoth 
establishments and a host of smaller nurseries, in which Cucurnber 
growing holds a prominent place. To judge by the constant additions 
made to their number of structures the trade is evidently in a flourishing 
state. I wish I could say the same of the plant nurseries. But I am 
sorry to add that little or no improvement is going on, and I have come 
to the conclusion that the supply of plants for market exceeds the 
demand. The expenses of a plant nursery are much heavier than tigi 
establishment devoted to Cucumbers, Tomatoes, or Grapes. The item 
for flower pots alone must amount to a considerable sum yearly, and for 
this there is no return, as when a plant is sold the pot is given in with 
it.— Ekfieldian. 
