35B 
THE COTTAGE GARDE NEK. 
March 4. 
time, it is obvious it must have a very important effect 
on a plant of ephemeral existence like the melon. Thus, 
whatever may be the idle taunts of those who assert 
their ability to grow melons in “ any kind of soil,” we 
may still set it down as certain that a judicious selec¬ 
tion must have a powerful effect on the welfare of the 
crop. Mr. A. may grow melons on a compost enriched 
by every appliance that a liberal hand can bestow, 
while Mr. 11. obtains a nearly similar result with an 
| almost impervious clay, which, he also tells us, he uses 
in rude lumps, like the unbroken elements of a rail¬ 
way embankment—and, strange as this may appear, we 
can bear testimony to their both answering, only, in 
the latter case, a little liner, richer, and opener compost 
was added to the clay, but that was not done previous 
to being put in the frame, so that no amalgamation of a 
chemical kind had any chance to be effected, but, some¬ 
how, by dint of good management in other respects, a 
fair, good crop of well-flavoured melons followed these 
extreme measures. We call these measures extreme, 
because the common, and by far the most successful, 
mode of treating this plant with food suitable for it, 
lies midway between these extreme cases, and as, with 
some modifications, most cultivators adopt this interme¬ 
diate course, we will here endeavour to explain it. 
Many years ago a celebrated pine grower, in a treatise 
on the cultivation of that noble fruit, affirmed that the 
soil which would produce good wheat would grow good 
pines. Now, whether this was really the case or not, or 
whether the success he had with that fruit did not owe 
its existence to the other means he used, or not, I cannot 
now stop to inquire, but certainly he did produce fine 
fruit. Now, though we do not here enter on the merits 
of that soil for pines, we have a much stronger convic¬ 
tion of its being able to grow good melons; and that 
sound, heavy, loamy soil, which produces the best sam 
pies of wheat and beans, is unquestionably the best like¬ 
wise for melons, modified, perhaps, a little by the cir¬ 
cumstances rendered necessary by the kind of melon 
grown: for instance, if it be a rank growing, scarlet- 
lleshed variety, withhold manure, or manuro water, in 
any shape; whereas, if it be a weakly, delicate kind, 
deserving, nay, demanding, a more nourishing diet, then 
add some such auxiliary to it, only do not forget that an 
undue luxuriance in habit is attended with a want of 
fruitfulness in the plant; so that in preparing and ar¬ 
ranging your soils, it is almost as well to err on the side 
of productiveness as on that of a useless luxuriance, 
because the former may be assisted by liberal doses of 
liquid manure at the fitting time, while the latter is dif¬ 
ficult to curb- into that condition necessary to make it 
useful, without, at the same time, incurring wounds 
which tell on its after welfare. 
The kind of soil we have used with the best success (and 
we have used soils of various kinds), is fresh pasture loam, 
which has lain somewhat thin some two or three mouths, 
and has been turned once or twice during that period. 
This soil, of which the turfy portion formed no inconsider¬ 
able part, requires no more than that period to prepare; 
if it lie much longer, the herbaceous matter becomes so 
much decomposed as to lose much of that openness so 
necessary to vegetation—and as we do not use any dung, 
leaf-mould, or other lightening substance, and the loam 
we expect to be inclined to “ stiffness,” it is proper not to 
allow it to run into a hard impenetrable mass. Now 
such a soil as we have represented, is just the one 
where wheat and beans are grown to perfection, and we 
advise our amateur readers to look around them and 
see where such an one can be had. It must be remem¬ 
bered that the poor, thin stapled land we often see laid 
down with grass, with the water standing all the winter in 
every little hole made by the feet of cattle, is not the 
kind likely to produce this fruit (or any other) to perfec¬ 
tion; and the amateur has not a bad guide in the quan¬ 
tity and quality of the grass growing on the spot he 
thinks of procuring his melon soil from. Substitutes 
for this may certainly be had; we have used a compost 
soil that had been lying many years, and have taken it 
indiscriminately from a ploughed field; and, on more i 
than one occasion, have used rolls of turf that had been 
cut for laying down, but not being wanted we put in our 
melon bed, not more than a month alter being cut; and j 
we have, for experiment’s sake, used an exceedingly light 
soil, in which leafy matter formed quite one-third of the 
mixture ; but this last was too open—a gross luxuriance 
was the result, and what fruit was produced was more 
owing to the modifying circumstances of other things 
bearing on the crop, but the other cases noted above 
have all succeeded tolerably well. Our readers will 
easily comprehend why such discordant materials should 
all terminate in the same end, by inferring that other 
causes were at work as well, to assist, regulate, or coun¬ 
teract, as the case may be, any injudicious matter con¬ 
tained in the compost. 
We must leave our remarks on the stopping, thinning, 
watering, and general management of this fruit, as well j 
as a notice of some of its varieties, to another week, at | 
the same time calling the amateur’s attention to the 
state of his dung bed, if he have one; as the drying 
winds, which come at this period, generally diminish the j 
heat so much as to call for renovation from lining, &c. 
Of course the usual system of stopping and regulating 
the shoots will be proceeded with as directed in back 
numbers. 
Kitchen Garden Sundries. —The cold, drying winds 
we have had the latter part of February, will have ex¬ 
ercised a beneficial effect in preparing the ground for the 
reception of seed and root crops; but such things as 
cauliflower, cabbage, &c., which might have been 
planted out just previous to its setting in will have 
suffered very much; so that it is prudent to suspend 
any operations that way until the return of more genial 
weather. In the meantime, take advantage of the dry 
state of the ground, and let every available inch of it be 
dug, forked over, or trenched up, as the case maybe; 
and what seeds recommended to be sown the last lew 
weeks, may yet be done, if not done then : to which we 
may now add the principal crop of Celery, which being 
a small seed, we usually sow on a raised bed—often an 
old hot-bed of last year; the soil on which being toler¬ 
ably fine, light, and rich, is seoured by a framework of 
rough slabs running round it, but no glass is used, un¬ 
less for a special purpose. On such a bed we also sow 
Sweet Marjoram, Burnet, and some other things, but 
Basil had better not be sown until a later period, and 
then on the spot intended for its being grown on. No 
heat is required, but the elevated position partially pro¬ 
tects such tender seeds from the casualties common to 
the season and ordinary ground beds. Of the various 
kinds of celery in use we cannot say much. We have : 
ourselves grown Seymours Superb White for many j 
years, but wo could never see any difference between 
that and a former variety called the Silver. Other j 
growers have also given their names to celery, and we i 
have found Coles Red, to be very good one season and j 
indifforent the next, so that it is no easy matter to re- ; 
commend one kind in preference to another, without j 
having some knowledge of how the seed was saved, and ! 
even then the current season has a great influence on i 
the quality of the crop. Tomatoes may now be sown, | 
and attention paid to Capsicums that may be coming up 
in seed pans. Pricking out or potting off' must be 
attended to at the proper time, so that strong, .robust 
plants may be in readiness to plant out the beginning j 
of May. Finish planting potatoes with all haste, and 
remove all crops not likely hereafter to be wanted, as ; 
Brussell's sprouts, Savoys, &c., which, if allowed to run to j 
seed, exhaust the ground. Attend to the linings of Cu- 
