368 
Yhe gardening WORLD , 
May 6, 1905. 
Froit Under Glass. 
Melons.— Seed sown the second or third week in January 
will be on the verge of ripening and require careful manage¬ 
ment to get fruit of the best flavour. The watering plays a 
most important part in this respect ; an overdose at this critical 
point may spoil the whole crop ; therefore much judgment is 
necessary in determining the supply. As soon as colouring 
begins and the stem shows signs of parting at the base of the 
fruit, water must be withheld, or splitting or cracking of the*, 
fruit may occur, as well as flavour impaired. 5 entilation must 
be more general, especially in the day-time during bright 
weather, with a chink at night, when it is hoped the weather 
will be more genial, as cold, cutting winds must be guarded 
against. Melons should be allowed to ripen thoroughly upon 
the plants, and a thin shade may be necessary for a few hours 
in the hottest part of the day, but it should not be resorted to 
while the plant presents a healthy look, and shows no signs of 
drooping or scorching. Maintain still plenty of atmospheric 
moisture about the house and a nice warmth in the* pipes 
throughout the night, and if the fruits must be kept for a 
week or so, place them in a cool shed or fruit-room, and as soon 
as the crop is finished, clear out all the exhausted soil except 
the bottom turves; replace with fresh loam, adding a little 
soot, bone-meal and wood-ashes, making it quite firm with a 
brick, but it must not be wet for this latter job ; if it is, defer 
it for a few days. If the plants have been attacked with red 
spider, the glass and woodwork should be previously washed 
down with soapy water, and as soon as the* soil is warmed 
through replanting may take place. Fertilise expanding 
blossom on succession plants, supporting the fruits before the 
weight cripples the bine, and feed liberally, keeping later-sown 
plants carefully trained to the trellis, and so*w more seed in 
21-in. pots, and set out. before they become pot-bound. 
Figs. — Withhold overhead syringing while yielding ripe 
fruits, but damp down the borders, paths, etc., several times 
daily when bright, and afford more ventilation, applying tepid 
water to the roots whenever they require it, which will be fre¬ 
quent in the case of pot. trees. Tie aside any growths that 
shade the fruits, and stop or remove side growths if not 
required for extension of the tree, and sponge any leaves that 
show the least sign of red spider. In succession houses attend 
to thinning of the fruit, also growths, and tie down any that 
it is necessary to retain, and give the trees abundance of water 
at the root, using liquid manure for the purpose, admitting air 
earlier mornings now, and increasing it as the temperature 1 
advances, a day figure of 85 deg. when bright doing no harm. 
Well syringe the trees in the morning, and again at closing 
time soon after 3 p.m. ; 4 o'clock will be early enough to close 
unheated houses on bright days. These will require frequent 
attention as to disbudding, pinching, and securing the shoots to 
the trellis, as well as stimulants at the roots, ventilating 
similarly to earlier-started trees, and in damping down use a 
little liquid manure, the odour of which tends to keep red 
spider away. 
Vineries. — Much attention will be required in the different 
divisions, either in stopping lateral growths, tying down, pol¬ 
linating the bunches of shy setting varieties, or thinning of the 
berries of those that are more advanced. Muscats while in 
flower set more satisfactorily when the bunches are allowed to 
remain fairly near the glass, leaving the final tying of the 
laterals until the berries can be distinguished, and further, 
assist the fertilisation with a camel-hair brush with foreign 
pollen of the Hamburgh or other free-setting variety, and main¬ 
tain a night temperature of 65 deg. to 68 deg. The later sorts, 
such as Alicante, Gros Maroc, Alton Towers, Lady Downes and 
one or two others merely require the rods gently tapped towards 
midday while the air is dry. Many days must not elapse ere 
the thinning of the berries must begin, especially Hamburghs 
and the varieties just enumerated, leaving the latest Muscats 
until it can be seen which berries are perfectly fertilised, nip¬ 
ping out. all the stoneless ones first, when a better idea can be 
formed as to what other berries need removal. Give all borders 
a good soaking of liquid manure immediately a set has been 
secured, and make the most of solar heat after about 3 p.m. by 
closing the structure, and thoroughly moisten borders, walls, 
etc., either with the syringe or fine-rosed water-can, mulching 
the borders as soon as the first thinning of the bunches, or 
rather berries, has been finished. James Mayne. 
Bicton Gardens, Devonshire. 
Among the Orchids. 
Seasonable Remarks. — From what I have observed, Orchids 
are. in a more backward state than usual at this season of the 
year. Odontoglossums seem to be the exception. This is no 
doubt caused by the mildness of the winter months, which 
assisted the plants to mature their growth early; so much so 
that with us at the end of February we were anticipating a 
very early flowering season, but the colder and dryer conditions 
that have prevailed with us during the past two months have 
had the effect of retarding the early produced flower-scapes, so 
that they are expanding at their normal season. 
Care must be taken not to distress the plants by allowing 
them to retain the flower-scapes longer than is absolutely 
necessary after the flowers have become, fully expanded, or the 
pseudo-bulbs will shrivel: where this is caused, there will be 
found some anxiety in the endeavour to. enable the plants to 
regain their normal state. Even the expert cultivators will 
find this not always an easy problem to solve, especially if root 
action has taken place at an early stage of growth, and has 
ceased, as is* often the case, at. flowering time. It is really 
surprising how quickly shrivelling takes place from the strain 
of excessive flowering, and to. what extent the succeeding 
growth becomes affected. There are many who throw objec¬ 
tions in the* way of assisting the plants by relieving some of 
the 1 scapes- of the flower-buds when the flower-scapes are* in an 
early stage of development. I have never met the cultivator 
who could keep his plants up to the standard requirements for 
many years in succession where the flower-scapes have* pro¬ 
duced annually from twelve to twenty flowers on the scapes. I 
consider that if the scapes are disbudded to three or four 
flowers in alternate years with the full spike, it is the only 
safe plan of retaining the plants in sufficient condition to pro¬ 
duce specimen plants and desirable* results. By this process 
we procure the best quality of flowers in one season, and the 
most useful and decorative scapes in the other. Other cool- 
house Orchids are also affected by excessive flowering. On- 
cidium marshallianum and other large-flowered varieties of the 
genus come to an early death from the fact of their free-flower¬ 
ing characteristics under artificial conditions perhaps more 
than from any other cause. 
The Cattleya Housed —The large-flowering Cattleyas and 
Laelias of the summer-flowering classes are now producing their 
flowers in the sheaths. Care should be* observed to afford eveiy 
facility that may tend to assist the plants to produce their 
flowers under the best available conditions. Light is a great 
factor in the development of the colour in flowers ; the plants 
should therefore be placed in such a position that they ma; 
have every benefit possible, with due regard, of course, to the 
protection of the foliage from ill-effects that may be easih 
obtained from the direct rays of the sun. 
The night temperatures of the house should also now be 
gradually raised, so that, by the end of this month we shall 
have reached the normal degree of the summer temperatures. 
Damping the floors and stages will require careful attention 
and must be governed to a great extent by the conditions pie- 
vailing outside. In bright weather, when there is free ventila- 
