June 15 , i9°7* 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
407 
More Ithan one artificial manure are 
isually advertised on the front cover of Thk 
Gardening World, either of which would 
.rove beneficial to growing crops of vege- 
ables. We presume you could get instruc- 
ions for the use of these manures along with 
he same. The sulphate of ammonia and 
litrate of soda may be regarded as a stimu- 
ant to growth, but we should presume that 
'our land wants a general manuring, and in 
uch case you should ask for an all-round 
aanure, which is one that has been made up 
.f several, so as to make it suitable for fer- 
ilising a variety of crops. If you get the 
top manure, it would be necessary to spread 
t on the ground and dig it in lightly, not 
0 leave it lying on the surface, as it would 
;et dry and be of less service than if kept 
noist under the soil. If you could manage 
0 get a small quantity of farmyard manure, 
ve believe that, in conjunction with any of 
he artificial manures, it would have a 
nuch greater effect, especially in a dry sea- 
on, but if the present season keeps as moist 
is it has done during the last three month* 
my of the artificial manures iabove-men- 
ioned would be effective. In the event of 
raving any early crops, we should advise 
you (when such crops are gathered) to sow 
lown the land with Mustard, Rape, Tur- 
lips, or Tares, and then to dig in the crop 
.vhen it has made 6 in. or 8 in. of growth, 
[f sown late, they would not make so much 
growth before winter, but if the ground is 
merely covered it would make a good substi- 
ute for farmyard manure. What you want 
n a soil like that you mention is some de¬ 
laying vegetable matter to retain the incis¬ 
ure during dry summer weather, when the 
irops are making their growth. 
1925. Management of Ridge Cucum¬ 
bers. 
I should be much obliged if you would 
give me a few hints upon the management 
if Ridge 'Cucumbers. (Beginner, Norfolk.) 
We presume that you have got the plants 
in pots ready to plant out. That being so, 
you could take out holes or trenches where 
you wish to grow them and put in a good 
quantity of fermenting manure. Then some 
of the soil of the trenches could be put back 
on the manure and the Cucumbers planted in 
this. Cover each plant with a bell-glass or 
hand-light, to encourage it to make an early 
growth while the weather is still unsettled. 
When the young plants are well established 
and the weather becomes genial, the hand- 
lights or bell-glasses may be removed, al¬ 
lowing the plants to ramble at will over the 
'ground. There are several methods of 
managing Cucumbers, but as yours are ridge 
Cucumbers they are seldom grown in any 
other way except in the open air. Frame 
Cucumbers require either a cold frame or a 
properly heated house, but as you give us no 
information as to whether you desire to grow 
yours under glass or in the open air we are 
uncertain as to the necessary directions. Tf 
you have a cold frame for them and wish to 
grow them there, then you should make up 
a heap of turfy loam and well-decayed cow 
manure about the centre of the frame, and 
plant the Cucumbers in that. If you can 
get manure to make a layer about 1 ft. deep. 
I it would act as a mild hot-bed under the 
soil. During dry weather the foliage should 
be syringed in the morning and again in 
the afternoon, when you close the frame. A 
thin shading during the heat of the day 
would enable you to grow Cucumbers of a, 
much darker colour than if fully exposed to 
the sun. Ridge Cucumbers should really be 
j grown outside, because if you have a frame 
vou could grow frame Cucumbers such as 
Telegraph, which is of better quality than 
the ridge varieties. 
FRUIT. 
1926. Treatment of Melons. 
I have a small greenhouse, 11 ft. by 6 ft., 
lacing due south, and wish to grow Melons. 
I have six plants which I have raised from 
seed, and they are now abQUt 6 in. high in 
5 in. pots. I should feel much obliged if 
you would give me advice on the following 
points :—(1) Should I nip out the side shoots, 
as in Tomatos; (2) do they need any more 
fire heat now, as I have just stopped putting 
in a fire at night? (3) Any information you 
could give me about watering, syringing and 
shutting up during the summer months 
would be acceptable. (C. S. Davey, Middle¬ 
sex.) 
If the plants are grown along freely with¬ 
out check, usually there are no side shoots. 
The plants you have in 5 in. pots should be 
planted on little hills of soil over the bed 
of the house and staked until they reach the 
wires of the house. Allow this main stem 
to grow unchecked until it has reached three- 
parts of the way to the top of the house, 
then pinch out the (tip. This will cause the 
production of side shoots, which alone pro¬ 
duce fruits. On the other hand, ii the 
plants get checked in growth in any way so 
that a few side shoots are thrown out near 
the base, it would be necessary to pinch them 
in order (to retard them until the leader 
.has grown its full height. After the pinch¬ 
ing of the leader side shoots will be given 
out, and will bloom much about the same 
time. This is necessary so that you can 
fertilise a sufficient number of flowers on 
one day as each plant can properly carry. 
You must not remove the side shoots entirely, 
as in Tomatos, otherwise you cannot get 
fruit. We consider you have made a mis¬ 
take in leaving off firing so early in the 
season, and in a cold, wet summer like the 
present. We should advise you to keep up 
a mild heat a/t least, with the aid of a fire, 
till the plants have set their fruits. Melons 
are tropical plants, and cannot make very 
satisfactory progress in cold weather like 
the present without artificial heat. The 
temperature gets too low at night. The 
plants will require attention in watering 
every day, but while in pots they may not 
actually require to be watered. After they 
have been established in the bed and made 
some growth they will require watering 
every day and feeding with liquid manure 
or some other fertiliser every second or third 
day after the fruits have been set. On the 
mornings of fine days the paths of the house 
and all open spaces should be syringed or 
damped down with the rosed watering-can 
about seven or eight in the morning. In 
the afternoon the house should again be 
damped down, and the foliage syringed 
when closing the house. In very bright and 
warm weather damping down may be done 
several times during the day, if that is oon- 
venient. The Melon, being a tropical plant, 
enjoys heat, but it must also have moisture 
not merely at the root, but in the atmo¬ 
sphere. On dull days you may close the 
house at 2 p.m. and damp the paths only. 
On bright days the ventilators need not be 
closed till 3 or 4 p.m., and the foliage, as 
well as the paths, may be syringed after 
closing. Use water at the same tempera¬ 
ture as the house when used upon the foli¬ 
age. Later on, when the fruits are ripen¬ 
ing, the plants should be kept drier at the 
roots, as well as in the atmosphere. When 
that stage has been reached air may be given 
at the sides, as well as the top of the house, 
though in the earlier stages of growth aL 
need only be given at the top. With regard 
to temperature, the house should be kept at 
60 degs. to 65 degs. by night, allowing it to 
rise 10 degs. by day. If you do not wish to 
employ much fire heat, these temperatures 
need not be quite so high, although they 
would be beneficial. It would certainly be 
advantageous to maintain it at 60 degs. by 
night till the fruits are set and commence 
.to swell. When closing a house at three 
or four on bright days, you may find the 
temperature running up to 90 degs. or more, 
but no harm will result provided you keep 
the house well damped down, as above di¬ 
rected. We are afraid that you would have 
a lot of trouble if you do not employ fire 
heat at least by night, because in that case 
it would be necessary to reduce the moisture 
in thq hou/se proportionately, and your 
plants would be liable to attacks of red 
spider and other ailments. At the same time 
you may remember that Melons can be grown 
in cold frames, but they must have a bed of 
fermenting manure beneath them, and that 
supplies much of the moisture both for the 
roots and the atmosphere 
GARDEN ENEMIES. 
1927. caterpillars on Gooseberries and 
Currants. 
I enclose a few caterpillars which I would 
like you to name, also a method of destroy¬ 
ing them. They are causing great destruc¬ 
tion on Black and Red Currants, also Goose¬ 
berries, in this district. We have tried lime, 
paraffin, Hellebore, etc., but these have no 
effect in destroying the insect. It came last 
year for the first time, and has been at 
work since early spring. They simply eat 
every green leaf and leave nothing but the 
hard wood. Some people think they have 
been imported with moss litter or foreign 
hay. (William Mitchell, Dunnottar, N.B.) 
The specimens you sent us are the cater¬ 
pillars of the Gooseberry moth (Abraxas 
grossulariata), which attacks a variety of 
plants, although we have never experienced 
it upon Currants. We quite understand 
that they have been with you since spring, 
because they are really hatched out upon the 
plants in September and live quietly through 
the winter, commencing operations again 
when the bushes oome into leaf. One remedy 
to be taken is to carefully rake and sweep 
up all the leaves from beneath the bushes in 
autumn. By this means you can remove the 
hibernating caterpillar. The leaves should 
either be burned or buried so deeply in some 
out-of-the-way place that the caterpillars 
would be unable to get to the surface in 
spring. Very frequently they take up their 
quarters in dead leaves hanging upon the 
bushes, so that all such leaves should be 
carefully picked as soon as the others have 
fallen, and destroyed. You state that you 
have used lime, paraffin and Hellebore with¬ 
out effect, but if you had applied these reme¬ 
dies to the bushes while still in leaf in 
September it would have been more destruc¬ 
tive to the caterpillars, which are quite 
young at that time. At that time you can 
often find the young caterpillars upon the 
leaves, and it would be worth your while to 
go over the bushes, holding a small vessel 
containing paraffin in one hand, while with 
the other you could clip off infested leaves 
with a scissors, allowing them to drop into 
the paraffin. At the same time, we think vou 
would be more successful by using the reme¬ 
dies you mention, say, once about the middle 
of September and again towards the end of 
that month. When raking up the fallen 
leaves, it would be also worth your while, 
where the bushes have been very badly at¬ 
tacked, to skirq off the surface soil, thus 
making sure of the caterpillars which may 
be snugly laid up for the winter. This soil 
should be wheeled some distance from the 
Gooseberries, and then spread on the ground. 
If you go to this trouble you might as well 
wheel the soil outside the garden altogether, 
because this moth in the caterpillar state 
