March 21.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
331 
THE ERUIT-GARDEN. 
Melons. —We have not said much about melon 
culture hitherto, for other matters which concern the 
majority of our readers have been somewhat pressing; 
knowing, also, that to many a good crop of melons of 
full flavour in July and August will be preferable to 
very early ones, which are double the expense, and 
by no means so highly flavoured. 
As to fermentation of the manure, that we described 
iu the No. for Dec. 27, under the head “ Cucumbers:” 
the same process may be pursued with the melon, 
observing to “ work” the dung as much, or even more, 
at this advanced period, when a sudden increase of 
atmospheric temperature is apt to excite imperfectly 
worked fermenting materials up to “ burning pitch ” 
suddenly. 
We are now supposing the ordinary dung frame to 
he employed ; and their culture in brick pits of any 
kind is so similar, that we need at present say nothing 
special on that head. In building the bed, we would 
advise the precaution recommended for the cucum¬ 
bers, of raising a column of unfermentable materials 
beneath each hillock : this plan answers exceedingly 
well, and, indeed, renders the process safe. A bed I 
for March should he about three feet six inches high 
at the hack ; but three feet, or even less, will suffice ! 
during the remainder of the season. Tree leaves, if 
at hand, should by all means be mingled liberally 
with the dung, in the proportion of one half, at least. 
As soon as the bed is built, linings of long litter 
should be placed around it, to promote speedy fer¬ 
mentation; and in about one week the bed will have 
become very hot—hotter, indeed, than at any period 
afterwards; and now the temporary lining may be 
in part drawn aside (the object of forcing the fermen¬ 
tation to its highest pitch having been accomplished), 
and the bed must receive a thorough watering, using 
a double amount of water along the centre. 
Preparation for the “hills” or mounds'of soil may 
now proceed ; and our practice is to hollow each 
centre, where the hillock is to be placed, a foot deeper 
than the rest of the bed ; for the melon loves depth 
of soil; and, moreover, with this precaution it is 
impossible they should burn. We deem it necessary 
to be very pressing on the amateur as to precautions 
against burning; knowing that he is more likely in 
his ardour to make shipwreck on this point than on 
any other; those thoroughly experienced of course 
do not need so much caution. Thus, with one foot 
below the level, and about fifteen inches above, the 
melon soil will be above two feet deep in the centre, 
shelving off to about nine inches at the edge of the 
frame inside. Not that the frame should be soiled 
over entirely until the plants are becoming esta¬ 
blished; it is much safer to start the plants for a 
week or two at first in the hills, leaving a space all 
round the hills between them, and next the sides of 
the frame, of naked fermenting material. The policy 
of this may not be obvious at first sight; we will, 
therefore, explain it. After all the working or fer¬ 
menting of the dung, some slight amount of noxious 
gases will remain, or be engendered in the bed: there 
is no way so ready or so certain to dissipate them 
as the application of water. Water, moreover, is 
needed in the dung, to prevent dryness, to coun¬ 
teract overheating, and also to assist in raising atmo¬ 
spheric moisture, so necessary to the well-being of 
tlie young plant until tliorouglily established. 
And now, as to soil or compost. We have known 
first-rate melons grown entirely in vegetable matter; 
we have also witnessed the same in a strong loamy 
soil. The success of the melon, as far as the soil is 
concerned, depends much on the relation the mode of 
culture bears to the soil in question. Those who use 
light or vegetable soils lay their account with a free 
application of water, at certain periods; those who 
use adhesive loams apply little water to the roots. 
The red spider is the greatest pest of the melon, 
and the rock-a-head which, in general, occasions 
much solicitude. If planted in light soils, cqntaining 
much vegetable matter, they will, of course, grow very 
luxuriant; and then, if a check ensue through drought, 
the plants will generally become a prey to the spider. 
For such reasons, therefore, there is nothing like a 
sound loam of considerable depth. Nevertheless, as 
every amateur cultivator cannot always obtain this 
valuable article, it is well to know, that any moderately 
rich garden soil will succeed, if deep enough ; and, if 
poor, it may be enriched with a portion of manures, 
or vegetable matters, iu a half-decomposed state. 
In making the hillocks, it is a good plan to fill the 
hollow, formed to receive the soil, with lumpy turf, 
fresh from the pasture or common : and on this the 
mound or hillock of compost. As to raising the 
young plants, the process is similar to that observed 
in cucumber culture ; only, it may be observed, that 
the melon cannot well endure so low a temperature 
as the cucumber. We consider 70° as indispensable ; 
80°, however, will be found more suitable. They are 
potted off’ as soon as the seed leaf is fully developed; 
and when they shoot, the central point is in general 
pinched out; this causes them to push a couple or 
more of shoots, and those are of a more fruitful cha¬ 
racter than those first formed, and will be required, 
without farther stopping, to train over the bed. 
We consider two plants enough for a hill, and they 
may, therefore, be placed in pairs, in five inch pots, 
in the potting process. The period of planting the 
hills must, of course, be ruled by the state oi the 
bed : as soon as the heat is right, and the plants are 
established, the sooner they are out the better. 
Melons do not succeed well where they have become 
stunted in their pots; we have known them after¬ 
wards produce nothing but male blossoms. 
The subsequent management, until they require 
to be finally earthed up, will be like cucumbers ; to 
sprinkle the frame occasionally, and sometimes to 
water the plants, using always tepid water. When 
the plants begin to reach the outside of the hills, the 
soiling must be completed, and the surface should be 
made to slope from the hillock on all sides, thus 
leaving a convex surface; this keeps the crown of the 
plant and its stem dry, a necessary course in order 
to avoid canker, to which the melon is peculiarly 
liable, especially in damp and cloudy summers. It 
is a good plan to cover the surface of the bed with 
small pieces of slate, or fine gravel composed prin¬ 
cipally of small stones. The fruit will both “ set ” 
better and possess higher flavour. The pair of shoots 
from each plant must be pegged out iir a proper di¬ 
rection as they advance; and it the plants stand 
one north and the other south, one shoot of each 
may be trained to each angle of each light; and when 
it nearly meets the angle, the point must be pinched 
oft’. Where frames are small, it is well to peg the 
advancing shoots in a serpentine direction. This 
will be found to give a greater number of eyes or 
joints iu a given space; and moreover it is a well- 
known fact, that the farther the shoots extend, the 
more fruitful they become, and the finer the pro¬ 
duce. 
Soon after stopping the terminal point, side shoots 
will sprout from almost every leaf; and if the plants 
