CULTURE OF THE MELON. 
459 
ters of an inch, one serves to draw the curtain backwards and forwards. 
These laths are great strengtheners to the curtains during rough 
winds, for till I used the laths, the curtains were often rent at the 
edges. Loops of tape are sewed at three or four places at the sides 
of each curtain, to slip over nails in the studs to keep them from 
being destroyed by the wind. I neither use line nor pulley, and the 
whole may he drawn or undrawn by one person in fifteen minutes. 
At the distance the studs stand from the wall, the sun is admitted 
to shine under, when the curtains are undrawn, so that no part of the 
tree is shaded to hurt. At the top of the studs, just under the co¬ 
ping, I have a sort of weather-board, about nine inches wide, tacked 
on to protect the trees from perpendicular frosts. I keep the studs, 
rods, irons, and weather-boards all well painted, and when not in use 
all are packed away in a dry place except the irons, which remain 
fixed in the wall, and all except the curtains will last nearly as long 
as the wall. I have a bit of lead with a number stamped upon it, 
which is nailed to each stud, and a corresponding one is nailed to 
the wall, so that every stud is easily carried and fixed to its own 
place without difficulty; the curtains are all made exactly of a size, 
and so will fit any part of the wall. 
I have found the curtains of great use, to cover green-gage and 
other plums, just before they are getting ripe, to draw over the trees 
in heavy rains to prevent their cracking. 
September 11 thy 1834. 
ARTICLE II.—CULTURE OF THE MELON, 
As Practised by Mr. Forbes, at Woburn Abbey, extracted from the Hortus 
Woburnensis. 
The Melon and Cucumber plants, bearing a strong analogy to each 
other in their growth, require but little variation in their general 
treatment. The former being of a less robust nature, it is with more 
difficulty that a stock of healthy plants can be procured in the gloomy 
winter months ; frequent sowings are consequently made at various 
periods in January and February, in order to secure a stock of plants, 
which should be raised in a seed bed previously prepared for the Cu¬ 
cumber. When the plants have attained the height of two to three 
inches, with their seed leaves almost fully developed, they should he 
pricked out into pots about four inches diameter, placing three in 
each, as some of them will be liable to damp off; but when the sea¬ 
son is more advanced, two plants in a pot will be sufficient. When 
the first or second rough leaf bursts forth, the plants should be stop T 
i i 3 
