AMERICAN KITCHEN GARDENER. 
06 
slab, thus interposed, will also assist the fruit to ripen^bv refleetirg the rays 
of the sun— Aber. Nicol advises placing the fruit on bits of slate or glass 
some time before it begins to ripen ; but by no means slate or moss the whole 
surface of the bed. 
Forcing melons .—The “ Honfleur methodof forwarding the produc¬ 
tion of melons, as stated by Mr. Armstrong, has been given, p. 64. The 
same writer continues, a If we want melons at a period earlier than this 
method will give them, we must employ a higher degree and a longer con¬ 
tinuance of artificial heat; in a word, we must resort to hot-beds , and in these 
the point most important and difficult ot attainment at the same time is, to 
secure a certain degree of heat, and no more, throughout the whole process. 
To lessen the difficulty in this case, gardeners, who understand their trade, 
make choice of those varieties which have the thinnest skins and the least 
bulk, as experience proves that, other things being equal, they require less 
heat than those of thicker rinds and greater size, and are of course less sub¬ 
ject to some of the accidents to which this species of culture is exposed. In 
choosing the seeds, those of the last year are only to be used, because they 
are of quickei vegetation than old ones, and, accordingly, best fulfill the in¬ 
tention of the hot-bed, which is, to give early fruit. Another practice con¬ 
ducive to the safety of the plants, is, to sow the seeds in small pots, and then 
to plunge them into a hot-bed. If the heat be deficient, they are, in this 
case, made no worse than they would have been, if sown directly in the bed; 
and if it be excessive, it is only necessary to raise the pots, without in the 
smallest degree disturbing the plant. These things being premised, it but 
remains to show what ought to be the subsequent management after the seed 
has been sown, and the pots placed under the frames. One of the most im¬ 
portant points now to be observed, is sufficiently to ventilate the bed, as well 
before as after the plants show themselves. This should be done at mid-day 
and in sunshine, and as often as a necessity for it shall be indicated by an 
accumulation of steam under the glasses. At night, these (the glasses) 
should be carefully covered with matting. These two preliminaries (venti¬ 
lation in the day, and covering at night) being carefully observed, your plants 
will soon show themselves in a vigorous and healthy state, and may be kept 
in that condition by a continuation of the same means, and by moderately 
moistening the earth when it shall have become too dry. The water em¬ 
ployed should be of the same temperature of the air under the frames; and, 
to secure this, it is well to keep a supply of it in a pot, placed in a corner of 
the hot-bed. In about a month, the plants thus raised, will be fit for trans¬ 
ferring to a second and larger hot-bed, constructed like the preceding, with 
the exception, that the mass of dung must now be greater, and that, after 
earthing, the bed should not be less than three and a half or four feet in depth. 
The plants, with the earth in which they grow, are now to be taken from 
the pots—an operation in which practice only will make us expert, and 
