A-agnst  19,  1997. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
167 
begrudge  the  stnall  breadth  of  outside  border  originally  formed  for 
the  Vine  roots,  and  muit  needs  crop  this  with  Vegetable  Marrows, 
Tomatoes,  and  such-like,  while  in  some  cases  the  lady  of  the 
establishment  insists  upon  the  Vine  border  being  covered  with 
flowers.  The  very  act  of  digging  has  the  effect  of  driving  the 
Vine  roots  down  into  the  cold  subsoil,  and  cropping  the  surface 
further  aggravates  the  evil.  If  the  roots  are  principally  12  inches 
or  more  below  the  surface  sappy  growth  followed  by  wholesale 
shanking  of  berries  is  the  result,  the  Vines  getting  into  a  most 
unsatisfactory  condition,  and  it  is  either  daring  or  after  cold  wet 
summers  that  the  worst  progress  is  made.  On  the  other  band,  if 
the  roots  are  by  good  management  kept  near  the  surface,  only  to 
be  allowed  to  suffer  from  drought  in  a  dry  season,  red  spider  and 
faulty  colouring  are  the  worst  evils  resulting. 
When  we  know  the  roots  are  principally  in  the  surface  soil  the 
least  we  can  do  is  mulch  early  and  water  occasionally  during  dry 
weather.  Unfortunately  the  difficulty  in  far  too  many  cases, 
notably  where  amateurs  are  responsible  for  the  treatment  given,  is 
to  discover  where  the  roots  really  are.  They  may  be  foraging  on 
their  own  account,  but  if  Dame  Nature  is  unkind  it  is  a  poor  look 
out  for  the  Vines.  Last  season  many  Vines,  with  their  roots 
nobody  knows  where,  fared  badly,  and  so  they  have  again  this 
season,  and  if  my  advice  is  taken  something  will  be  done  next 
autumn  towards  remedying  the  original  mistake  of  losing  touch 
with  them. — W.  Iggulden. 
MELON  GROWING  TROUBLES. 
Melon  growing  is  popular  with  the  majority  of  gardeners, 
probably  betjause  the  plants  give  a  quick  and  ample  return  for  the 
labour  bestowed  upon  them.  Well-grown  fruits  have  also  a  noble 
appearance  upon  the  dessert  table,  and  their  rich  melting  flesh  is 
both  delicious  and  wholesome  in  warm  weather.  It  is  really 
wonderful  what  a  number  of  Melons  are  grown  in  some  gardens 
where  no  special  provision  is  made  for  their  culture.  Pits,  frames, 
and  houses  of  various  descriptions  are  pressed  into  service,  because 
they  are  free  from  their  usual  occupants,  just  long  enough  to  give 
the  opportunity  of  growing  in  them  what  may  be  termed  a  “  catch 
crop.” 
As  a  matter  of  course,  when  grown  in  this  way  their  culture 
is  often  attended  with  difficulties,  but  in  many  instances  these 
may  to  a  great  extent  be  overcome  by  the  exercise  of  a  little 
ingenuity.  I  have  grown  many  fine  crops  in  cold  pits,  and  in  dry 
seasons  like  the  present  they  usually  succeed  well  in  such  positions; 
but  should  long  periods  of  dull  or  wet  weather  prevail  while  the 
fruit  is  swelling  and  ripening  it  is  no  easy  matter  to  bring  the 
plants  through  safely.  Ventilating  is  then  an  important  matter, 
for  unless  the  most  is  made  of  the  little  sun  heat  we  get  at  such 
times,  by  closing  as  soon  as  the  sky  becomes  overcast,  canker  and 
rot  speedily  play  havoc  with  them.  On  the  other  hand,  if  an 
insufficient  supply  of  moisture  is  given  at  closing  time  during  bright 
weather  red  spider  puts  in  appearance,  and  the  energies  of  the 
plants  are  crippled.  If,  however,  errors  are  avoided,  paying  crops 
of  Melons  may  be  grown  in  frames.  Useful  hints  are  conveyed  in 
the  following  paragraph. 
Plant  on  slightly  raised  mounds,  keep  the  thinning  and  stopping 
of  shoots  regularly  attended  to  ;  dress  all  cuts  and  wounds  with  a 
mixture  of  lime  and  soot,  to  dry  up  the  sap  quickly,  and  thus  avoid 
risk  from  rot ;  in  giving  water  at  the  roots  choose,  if  possible, 
bright  weather,  and  do  not  wet  the  soil  for  a  couple  of  inches 
around  the  main  stem. 
,  Turning  to  Melon  culture  in  heated  house#  and  pits,  the 
difficulties  connected  with  the  work  are  not  usually  so  great ;  still, 
they  are  sometimes  considerable.  The  plants  revel  in  very  high 
temperatures  provided  the  proper  balance  between  heat  and 
moisture  is  maintained,  and  that  the  hot- water  pipes  are  not 
situated  too  close  to  the  main  leaves  and  fruiting  ihoots.  Unfor¬ 
tunately,  however,  many  gardeners  are  obliged  to  grow  the  bulk  of 
their  Melons  in  houses  where  the  latter  condition#  prove  a  great 
■tumblingblock ;  such  houses  are  often  old  Pine  stoves,  now  used 
for  growing  both  stove  plants  and  Melons.  Over  a  rather  narrow 
walled-in  bed  at  the  front  we  sometimes  find  four  hot- water  pipes, 
so  placed  as  to  make  it  difficult  to  plant  Melons  on  either  side  of 
them  without  the  leaves  of  the  main  stem  touching  the  pipes,  and 
when  trained  to  the  trellis  overhead  they  are  little  more  than  a  foot 
from  the  pipes. 
This  state  of  affairs  would  perhaps  be  of  little  consequence  if 
the  heat  could  be  regulated  at  will,  but  in  many  instances  the 
Melon  houses  are  in  a  long  range,  not  heated  on  the  modern  prin¬ 
ciple  of  working  each  house  independently  of  the  others.  It  thus 
happens  that  the  heat  required  for  a  particular  house  has  first  to 
pass  through  another,  where  a  less  amount  is  required.  Unde¬ 
sirable  though  this  state  of  affairs  is,  a  combination  of  circum¬ 
stances  makes  it  impossible  to  arrange  the  crops  growing  in 
the  various  houses  in  a  more  suitable  way.  The  difficulty  we  have 
to  face  is  that  of  growing  Melons  in  a  house  where  both  stems  and 
foliage  are  far  too  close  to  hot-water  pipes  too  highly  heated,  con¬ 
ditions  especially  favourable  for  the  production  and  spread  of  that 
dread  pest  red  spider. 
The  task  of  growing  good  Melons  under  luch  conditions  is  not, 
however,  an  impossible  one.  There  are  two  ways  out  of  the  difficulty 
which  I  have  practised  successfully  at  different  times.  The  first  is 
this  :  remove  all  side  shoots  from  the  Melon  plants  until  they  have 
grown  beyond  the  point  at  which  the  hot- water  pipes  are  imme¬ 
diately  beneath  them.  It  simply  means  giving  each  plant  a  greater 
length  of  main  stem  and  obtaining  the  crop  from  the  upper  portion. 
This  causes  a  delay  of  about  a  week  in  securing  the  crops.  The 
advantages,  however,  greatly  overbalance  this  drawback,  as  the 
shoots  bearing  fruit  can  be  kept  perfectly  free  from  red  spider,  and 
if  the  leaves  on  the  main  stem  near  the  pipes  become  badly 
attacked  they  can  easily  be  dressed  with  an  insecticide,  and  when 
plenty  of  growth  has  been  made  about  them  removed  altogether. 
If  the  wound#  are  then  dressed  with  a  mixture  of  powdered  charcoal 
and  lime  there  will  be  no  danger  of  rot  setting  in  at  points  of 
removal,  because  the  great  heat  near  will  speedily  harden  the 
wounds  made  by  pinching  or  cutting  away  the  leaves. 
The  other  plan  is  as  follows  : — Encase  the  top  and  front  of  the 
hot-water  pipes  with  boards  ;  the  dry  parching  heat  cannot  then 
find  its  way  directly  to  the  leaves,  but  circulates  from  the  pipes 
into  the  body  of  the  house,  at  a  point  where  the  trellis  is  a  good 
distance  from  the  pipes.  Another  advantage  gained  by  following 
this  plan  is  that  frequent  syringings  can  be  given  without  raising 
the  great  amount  of  vapour  which  would  result  from  the  practice 
whenever  the  pipes  were  very  hot.  This  alone  practically  solves 
the  difficulty,  for  Melons  enjoy  almost  any  amount  of  fire  heat, 
provided  plenty  of  moisture  is  given  as  well. 
When  Melons  are  grown  under  the  conditions  just  named  every 
particle  of  the  p’ant  must  receive  a  thorough  syringing  at  closing 
time  during  bright  weather  while  the  fruit  is  swelling.  Should  the 
weather  be  very  bright  the  syringing^  ought  to  be  repeated  two 
hours  later.  At  night,  when  the  fires  are  banked  up,  a  thorough 
damping  of  the  floor  of  the  house  should  be  resorted  to,  and 
whenever  the  pipes  at  that  time  are  quite  hot  the  plants  thoroughly 
syringed  as  well.  Treated  in  this  way,  and  given  good  attention 
in  other  respects,  good  crops  may  invariably  be  grown,  even  under 
such  trying  conditions.  The  appearance  of  red  spider  must  at 
once  be  checked  by  sulphuring  the  pipes,  and  if  possible  raising 
the  temperature  of  the  house  to  90°  by  fire  heat.  Before  this  is 
done,  however,  the  condition  of  the  soil  about  the  roots  ought  to 
be  clearly  ascertained,  and  if  this  is  in  the  least  dry,  give  water. 
When  Melon  plants  are  swelling  heavy  crops  of  fruit,  they  do 
not,  as  a  rale,  produce  young  growths  very  freely.  This  must  be 
constantly  borne  in  mind,  and  a  few  shoots  left  unstopped  whenever 
the  plants  are  gone  over,  as  I  am  convinced  that  a  frequent  cause 
of  collapse  is  the  removal  or  stopping  of  every  shoot  on  a  given 
date.  If  this  is  done  at  a  time  when  the  fruits  are  swelling  rapidly, 
they  frequently  fail  to  make  further  growth,  and,  as  a  natural 
consequence,  to  produce  well-flavoured  fruits.  Canker  and 
bacterial  diseases  are  extremely  difficult  to  deal  with  when  once 
established,  but  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  in  almost,  if  not 
every  instance,  they  are  brought  about  throngh  mistakes  in  manage¬ 
ment. — H.  D. 
HARDY  FUCHSIAS. 
The  use  of  the  Fuchsia  as  a  greenhouse  plant  is  perhaps  appreciated 
to  its  fullest  extent  ;  the  value  attached  to  some  of  the  members  of  the 
same  genus,  though,  as  hardy  shrubs  does  not  appear  to  be  so  generally 
recognised.  Although  some  of  the  species,  together  with  the  bulk  of  the 
varieties,  cannot  be  said  to  be  sufficiently  hardy  to  withstand  more  than 
a  few  degrees  of  frost  without  disastrous  results,  there  are  still  several 
which  come  safely  through  the  ordeal  of  an  ordinary  English  winter. 
Of  these  some  of  the  most  noteworthy  are  F.  globosa,  F.  gracilis, 
and  F.  macrostema,  species  natives  of  Chili  ;  and  F.  exoniensis  and 
Riccartoni,  hybrids.  The  flowers  of  all  resemble  each  other  very 
closely  in  colour,  in  all  cases  the  calyx  being  red  and  the  corolla  purple. 
The  habit  of  each  plant,  however,  is  distinct,  and  each  one  has  its  special 
advantages.  For  hardiness  and  free  flowering  qualities  none  can  beat 
Riccartoni.  It  does  not  make  such  long  growths  as  some  of  the 
others,  but  they  are  held  in  a  more  upright  position,  showing  off  their 
numerous  showy  blossoms  to  the  best  possible  advantage.  In  very  severe 
winters  the  growths  are  usually  killed  to  the  ground,  but  as  spring  comes 
they  quickly  make  fresh  shoots.  In  places,  however,  where  very  severe 
frosts  are  not  experienced  the  old  wood,  save  at  the  tips,  is  not  injured  ; 
consequently  bushes  several  feet  high  are  made. 
For  growing  in  the  front  of  shrubberies  these  are  excellent  plants, 
the  flowers  being  produced  at  a  time  when  flowering  shrubs  are  becoming 
scarce.  A  very  pretty  effect  can  be  produced- by  planting  F.  Riccartoni 
rather  thinly  in  a  bed  and  filling  up  the  spaces  with  Galtonia  candicans, 
