112 
HABITS OF THE MELON PLANTS. 
tern, each mortar joint was secured by a coating of the cement, so as 
to render every part, water tight. 
Under these circumstances, the' regular culture was continued; 
water was occasionally poured into the cistern, and nothing material 
occurred that required notice, till about the second week in July, 
when a small portion of roots was perceived to emerge from the wall 
of the pit through a mortar (cemented) joint, into the water of the 
trough. At first, this was not noted down, but on the 19th, the roots 
spread so rapidly, and assumed so branching a form, were so vigor¬ 
ous, and evidently in their appropriate elements, that I made the 
following entry in my diary, having carefully investigated the soil, 
to leave no doubt of their origin. 
“The roots of the Housainee have formed the fox tail, in the wa¬ 
ter-trough, in several tufts of straight fibres, furnished with laterals : 
it is singular, if water, in profusion, should prove suitable to melon 
growth.” 
The roots were as hardy as they were luxuriant. On several oc¬ 
casions, the water was almost dried away, as the flue heated it much, 
yet still they suffered nothing: as soon as fresh fluid was added, 
they expanded again, and appeared unhurt. Finally, they almost 
filled the trough, and then, I determined to record the facts I had 
observed. One fruit was swelled, but under most unpromising cir¬ 
cumstances: the soil was bad, the plant injured by the alteration of 
a part of the house, and the leader above the melon was broken by 
accident. It ripened however; and as I deemed it, though small, 
to be an object of interest, I not only drew up a statement of the facts 
for the committee of the Horticultural Society, but sent the fruit to 
Mr. Loudon for investigation, with a simple recital, in a few r lines, 
of the concomitant attending its production. I enclosed a small par¬ 
cel of the roots in a phial of water, and this I did likewise to the se¬ 
cretary of the society. The remaining portion of the roots in the 
trough was then taken off to the point where they emerged from the 
wall, and then I was enabled to discover the extent of this curious 
process. The trough, as I have said, was almost filled with roots, 
but on inspecting the joint of the brickwork, whence the roots emer¬ 
ged no fissure or hole was discernible. Upon removing some of the 
soil within, I could trace a long branch of the root which passed 
close to the bricks, and at a certain point had been stimulated to 
send forth, through the mortar joint, the process that formed the 
bundles of fibres in the water cistern. I now retain a fine specimen 
of these water roots; they are in alcohol, and their texture and white 
colour are perfectly preserved. 
