May 11, 18§5. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
587 
Potatos in them, covered with hay or moss ; this will 
form a hiding place for them. Every morning these 
should be examined, and if any are found turn them 
out in a pot of water. Boiling water is a good 
thing to destroy wood-lice, poured around the sides 
of the frame. 
When the Melon plants are much grown and 
earthed over, it is a bad practice to pour boiling 
water around them then, because the roots will have 
extended themselves, and no doubt would be 
destroyed. It will be an advantage to the cultivator 
if the seed bed when first made will carry the young 
plants past the seedling stage without adding linings, 
because seedling Melons dislike too much vapour. 
When raising seedling Melons always aim to keep 
their foliage hard from the beginning, and then they 
will be more capable of standing the strong sun when 
they are young. 
As the young plants advance keep them moderately 
close to the glass, and on very favourable occasions 
give a little air to keep them stocky; great care should 
be exercised in giving air at this time of theyear. Never 
give air at the back, but tilt the sash a little in front, 
and hang a little screen over the opening to check 
the inrush of cold air. The cultivator will find him¬ 
self now in the month of March, and the little plants 
will have made a pair of rough leaves, and will, no 
doubt, require a shift into pots an inch larger, using 
soil a little rougher than before, but always take 
care to have the soil of the same temperature as 
the beds. 
Should the bed require a little life it must be given, 
but be careful not to hurt the young plants. After 
the plants have taken root in their fresh pots, if the 
cultivator wishes to push along one or two of them, 
let them be stopped. Of course, pinching them now 
saves time, but it should be remembered that they 
cannot make but two shoots when pinched so early, 
although this will make several days difference in 
cutting, no doubt. The plants for the second and 
general crops should be stopped at the fourth leaf 
after planting out. 
While the young plants are making progress in the 
nursing frame hot-beds must be prepared on which 
they are to be finally planted out, and this being a 
very important part of the work should be superin¬ 
tended by the gardener himself. Material the same 
as recommended for the seed bed must be used, not 
forgetting to add plenty of leaves, as they make the 
heat more lasting. Supposing the beds to have 
been made, they should be fit to receive the plants 
in about ten days, but be careful not to put them in 
too quick. 
Preparing the Soil. 
The soil which I use is a good fibrous loam, rather 
heavy than light, to which has been added a little 
old mortar rubbish, a little soot, and some ashes 
from a heap of burnt prunings and vegetable refuse, 
which contain agood percentage of charcoal mixedwell 
together. When mixing do not chop the loam too fine, 
as Melons like their soil a bit rough. After preparing 
sufficient soil for them place one barrowful in the 
centre of each light a day or so before planting, so 
as to get it thoroughly warmed. Now take the little 
plants from the nursing frame, handling them very 
carefully, preserving every leaf, and plant one or as 
many as may be thought proper in each hillock. I 
only plant one and think it sufficient, unless the beds 
are of an unusual size. When putting the first soil 
on the beds I always put a turf or two under the soil. 
This not only preserves the roots from burning 
quickly, but keeps them up in the soil. When 
planting do not be afraid of the soil being too rough, 
but pack the fibrous loam well around the plants, 
and at the same time make it very firm, which to 
my mind is one of the chief essentials in their 
cultivation, as it causes the Vines to be firm and 
short jointed. Another important particular is to 
keep the collars of the plants well up. 
Planting being done, give them a gentle watering 
with a fine rose, and let the water be of about the 
same temperature as the beds, moistening them 
right through ; then close the sashes, and should the 
weather be very bright put a thin shade on the glass 
until the plants are rooting freely. It is a good 
plan to put a little weight on the shading to prevent 
the wind from blowing it off, otherwise the young 
plants would be in danger of being scorched. The 
Melon being a sun-loving plant, this shading, though 
light, must not be kept on any longer than is 
necessary, so that they may have the full benefit of 
the sun. 
General Management. 
Now comes the general management of the plants. 
The cultivator must not subject the plants to over¬ 
heating after planting. If the beds appear too hot 
pull away a little of the soil from them, and give a 
little air night and day, but be sure to let the mats 
hang over the openings to prevent too much 
cold air from entering, or the plants may receive a 
check. 
Give them a little warm water as they require it, 
and, in a general way, they should have a little fresh 
air admitted on all favourable occasions by tilting 
the sashes a bit in front. Previous to closing the 
frames in the afternoon, both frames and plants 
should have a nice damping. This will keep up a 
growing atmosphere and keep down insects; if 
possible always close before the sun passes off the 
glass. The nights at this time will generally be 
very cold, so that the cultivator must always mat 
up securely every evening before leaving, and such 
coverings will usually be required until quite the 
end of June, when they may be dispensed with 
altogether. 
Being all free from accidents the plants will now 
be growing freely, and should be stopped at the 
fourth leaf. This will cause them to throw out side 
shoots, and these shoots as they grow should be 
trained evenly over the frame. As the little roots 
show themselves through the hills they should have 
a little top-dressing of warm soil which should be in 
the frames waiting for them, and give a gentle water¬ 
ing, a good time for this being just before closing 
time. 
Setting the Flowers. 
The foundation of the plants having been laid, 
when the cultivator can detect five or six flowers 
open he should seize this opportunity and impreg¬ 
nate them in the usual way. A suitable time for 
this operation is the forenoon, when the pollen is 
dry, and of course the atmosphere must be kept 
drier during this operation. It is not likely that all 
these flowers will set, but when it can be ascertained 
which has taken the lead if too many have set the 
weakest can be removed, leaving three or four which 
will be sufficient for large fruiting varieties, such as 
Hero of Lockinge, Windsor Castle, &c., but smaller 
varieties may carry one or two more. The culti¬ 
vator should always bear in mind that the more 
even the setting the more even the fruits will be in 
size. For the very earliest the grower need not 
wait for an even set, but hurry on the first flowers 
to set their fruits on one of the plants. I would 
not advise this afterwards, as the crop would be 
very uneven. 
When the little fruits are all safely set the main 
shoots should have their tops pinched out, and the 
shoots that are bearing the fruits should be stopped 
at the second joint, and stop all sub-laterals at the 
first leaf, so as to throw the whole energy of the 
plants into the swelling of the fruits. 
(To be continued). 
--*»- 
THE EARLIEST GARDENS 
IN AMERICA. 
There were many interesting private ornamental 
gardens in the Colonial days. One of the earliest 
and best was that of Governor Peter Stuyvesant, of 
New Amsterdam (New York, near Third Avenue), 
known as the “bouwerie," where forty or fifty 
negro slaves and also white servants were kept at 
work. “ The road to the city had been put in good 
condition, and shade trees were planted on each side 
where it crossed the Governor's property.” The 
Bowery of these degenerate days has lost the Eden- 
like features which distinguished its illustrious 
progenitor. 
Excellent gardens were attached to the residences 
of wealthy persons by the middle of last century and 
probably earlier, and they were said to have been 
encouraged by the example and precept of Wash¬ 
ington. There are records of many large and 
meritorious collections of plants a century and more 
ago. William Hamilton's collection at Philadelphia 
was one of the best, and it contained a large 
collection of exotics. It flourished towards the close 
of last century, and was broken up in 1828. William 
Jackson began “a highly interesting collection of 
plants at his residence in Londongrove,” Pennsyl¬ 
vania, in 1777. About 1800 Joshuaand Samuel Pierce, 
East Marlborough, Pennsylvania, " began to adorn 
their premises by tasteful culture and planting,” and 
by the establishment of an arboretum of Evergreens 
The most famous botanic garden which North 
America has ever had was John Bartram’s, 
established at Philadelphia in 1728. It contained a 
great collection of native plants, and some of the 
trees are now amongst the most valued landmarks of 
the city. Bartram was a skilful farmer and gardener, 
and his sons John and William inherited his tastes 
and continued the garden. The elder Bartram was 
probably the first American to perform successful 
experiments in hybridisation. Bartram’s cousin, 
Humphrey Marshall, established a botanic garden 
at West Bradford, in Chester County, Pennsylvania, 
in 1773. John Bartram’s name is preserved to us in 
the moss Bartramia, and Marshall’s in the genus 
Marshallia, applied to some small Composite of the 
Eastern States. The Elgin botanic garden, near 
New York, was established in 1801 by David 
Hosack, a man of great learning and of the keenest 
sympathies with rural occupations. He is now 
remembered in the interesting genus Hosackia, one 
of the Leguminosae. A botanic garden was 
established at Charleston, South Carolina, about 
1804, and one in Maryland about the same time. The 
botanic garden at Cambridge, Massachusetts,was be¬ 
gun in 1805, an institution which, together with the 
Professorship of Natural History at Cambridge, was 
founded largely through the efforts of the Massa¬ 
chusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture. The 
Society subscribed $500 for the purpose, and raised 
more by subscription.— Prof. L. H. Bailey in 
“ Florists' Exchange.” 
-- 
ARDEN1NG fjflSCELLANY. 
NEW GOLD-LACED POLYANTHUS. 
A bunch of flowers of a beautiful seedling Polyanthus 
belonging to this class has been sent us by Dr. Stuart, 
Hillside, Chirnside, N.B. It was raised from a 
finely laced, but pin-eyed variety named Border 
Maid, crossed with the pollen of George IV. The 
last is a well known variety amongst the few florists 
who still cling to this beautiful but much neglected 
class of plants, but too seldom seen in the neighbour¬ 
hood of London. We could have wished that Dr. 
Stuart had sent a specimen of George IV. for com¬ 
parison, that a synopsis of the exact distinctions and 
their extent between the parents and progeny might 
have been possible. The flowers were of two sizes 
apparently dependent upon the strength of the 
common footstalk of the flowers, and the largest 
measured 1J in. in diameter across the individual pip. 
Probably they were grown under ordinary conditions 
in the open border, and if so, the variety is evidently 
adapted for border cultivation, and which we should 
consider a leading recommendation to assist in again 
popularising this beautiful class of hardy plants. 
The golden centre is generally well defined and the 
body colour bright crimson on first expansion, but as 
the flower becomes fully developed this hue changes 
to a blackish maroon, thus contrasting strongly with 
the golden lacing. There, was not much fault to be 
found with the latter, but the degree of refinement 
can only be determined by comparison with the 
standard varieties in cultivation. The flowers from 
a decorative point of view were beautiful and 
pleasantly fragrant. 
NICOTIANA COLOSSEA VARIEGATA 
The ordinary green-leaved variety of this giant 
Tobacco is getting well known in various establish¬ 
ments for the sub-tropical effect of its magnificent 
foliage, more especially when planted out so as to 
afford unlimited root-room to encourage vigorous 
growth. The variegated variety is more suitable for 
pot work, and has elliptic, pale green leaves, with a 
broad but irregular, pale yellow band changing to 
creamy-white with age. Upon the delicacy of this 
colour and its untarnished appearance the beauty of 
the plant depends, so that the protection of a green¬ 
house would be necessary to bring out and preserve 
the colour by the shelter so afforded. No doubt the 
plant could be grown in sheltered positions out of 
doors during the summer months with its beauty 
tolerably well preserved, but the experiment will 
have to be made. The same applies to Nicotiana 
affinis variegata, but the leaves of this are much 
smaller, and therefore less readily injured by the 
wind. It flowers very freely, however, which is not 
