October  1,  1903.  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  ,  311 
Melons  at  Longleat. 
It  is  many  years  since  Mr.  W.  Taylor  instituted  the  sy.stem 
of  growing  Melons  in  the  Louglcat  Gardens  on  what  is  com¬ 
monly  understood  as  tlie  extension  system  of  training,  and’ I 
cannot  myself  recall  another  instance  where  the  same  success 
attends  the  practice.  Successive  gardeners  who  have  in  turn 
held  the  important  charge  during  all  those  years  have  con¬ 
formed  to  the  adoption  of  this  principle,  because  by  it  fine 
fruits,  unfailing  .succession,  and  high  quality  are  thereby  ob¬ 
tained. 
Probably  each  in  turn,  prior  to  their  coming  to  Longleat, 
found  the  orthodox  methods  to  suit  recpiirements,  for  it  is 
well  known  that  few  adopt  the  extension  as  compared  with  that 
of  restrictive  methods  of  growth  and  fruit.  Generally  speaking, 
from  three  to  six  fruits  are  considered  ample  for  a  Melon  plant 
to  carry  to  perfection,  and  more  often  than  otherwise  the 
maturitjf  of  these  exhausts  the  plants  that  bear  them.  This  is 
not  so,  however,  with  plants  allowed  a  freer  head  and  root  pro¬ 
vision,  for  eighteen  or  more  fruits  have  been  counted,  all  in 
differing  stages  of  development,  on  one  plant,  and  how  many 
more  than  this  number  it  is  possible  to  obtain  is  beyond  my 
knowledge.  This  number  I  have  actually  counted  myself,  and 
am  therefore  witness  to  the  truth  of  the  fact. 
Formerly  but  two  varieties  were  cultivated  at  Longleat,  the 
old,  but  now  seldom  heard  of,  Cashmere,  and  Eastnor  Castle. 
The  first-named  was  of  such  vigorous  habit,  and  under  leaf  re- 
.striction  such  a  signal  failure,  that  the  extension  system  of 
training  was  probably  adopted  as  an  e.ssential  necessity  to 
avert  that  disappointment  which  past  efforts  had  given  in  this 
particular  kind.  Since  that  time  it  has  been  amply  clemon- 
.strated  at  Longleat  and  elsewhere  how  .suited  is  this  principle 
of  training  for  other  kinds. 
The  late  Mr.  Pratt,  by  the  inter-crossing  of  Eastnor  Castle 
with  Meredith’s  Cashmere,  produced  a  fine  Melon,  afterwards 
named  Longleat  Perfection.  It  had  but  a  short  career,  how¬ 
ever,  probably  because  this  also  demanded  a  greater  freedom 
of  lateral  than  many  were  disposed  to  give.  Neither  kind  has 
much  patronage  now,  being  superseded  by  such  an  ever- 
changing  introcluction  of  certificated  novelties. 
High  quality  provided  in  those  old-time  Melons  had  a  fame 
which  time  only  has  made 
le.ss  appreciated.  The 
common  cry  of  to-day  is 
that  Melons  possess  such 
an  indifferent  and  uncer¬ 
tain  ciuality.  In  those 
days  at  Longleat,  when 
fruits  were  taken  from 
healthy  and  vigorous 
plants,  this  flavour  ques¬ 
tion  never  had  a  test, 
nor  was  raised  by  com¬ 
parison.  The  same  rule 
holds  good  now,  though 
modern  kinds  find  favour 
to  a  much  greater  degree 
than  at  that  time.  Mr. 
Gandy,  the  present  head 
gardener,  provides  fruits 
in  numbers  and  quality 
that  still  possess  that  uni¬ 
formity  of  quality  and 
appearance,  so  much 
prized  on  the  table  of 
his  noble  employers. 
This,  it  must  be  ad¬ 
mitted.  does  not  neces¬ 
sarily  arise  from  the 
sev’ere  limitation  to  one 
or  two  kinds.  This  prac¬ 
tice  has  been  tried  and 
found  wanting;  for  while 
one  variety  is  early  or 
ciuick  in  bringing  the  first 
fruits  to  maturity,  others 
demand  more  time.  This 
Mr.  Gandy  has  overcome 
by  adopting  experiment¬ 
ally  a  change  of  stock. 
Gunton  Scarlet  has  for 
some  time  been  a 
favoured  variety,  and 
right  well  has  it  deserved 
the  precedence  given  it  as  regards  appearance  and  quality ; 
hut  a  restriction  to  one  kind  provides  an  after  thought,  ina.s- 
much  as  neither  the  first  fruit,  nor  the  constant  supply,  is 
rendered  so  conspicuous  a  desideratum  as  demand  and  neces¬ 
sity  require.  Every  Melon  grower  realises  that  one  kind  will 
under  precisely  the  same  treatment  mature  at  least  a  portion 
of  its  crop  some  days  in  advance  of  another,  and  the  value  of 
such  progress  can  only  find  its  true  appreciation  when  the 
yearning  for  summer  fruits  has  to  be  appeased,  or  there  is  a 
competitive  race  with  one’s  neighbour. 
Sutton’s  Triumph  and  Veitch’s  Late  Perfection  are  kinds 
that  it  is  hoped  may  help  to  provide  a  continuity  of  succession 
rather  than  a  number  of  fruits  that  must  of  course  be  stored  for 
indefinite  periods  in  the  fruit  room  awaiting  use.  Anything  tend¬ 
ing  to  “  ease  up  ”  the  weekly  supply  is  deserving  of  more  than 
pas'.sing  thought  and  provision,  and  this  question  appears  to  be 
one  that  has  engaged,  and  still  does  engage,  the  mind  of  the 
respected  garden  chief  at  Longleat. 
The  soil  hero  would  appear  to  be  eminently  suited  to  the 
requirements  of  the  Melon,  as  also  are  the  structures  in  which 
they  are  grown.  Fertilising  of  the  blos.soms,  though  it  is 
scarcely  necessary,  is  attended  to  in  their  season  as  a  safeguard 
against  failure;  but  when  other  conditions  favour,  no  anxiety 
need  be  felt  for  the  assurance  of  a  successive  advance  of  the 
embryo  fruits,  as  the  lateral-bearing  growth  produce  them.  It 
is  not  usual  for  Melons  to  set  their  fruits  unaided,  but  their 
cultural  treatment  at  Longleat  would  seem  all-sufficient. 
Loo.se  brick  walls  are  made  to  enclose  the  .soil  for  each 
separate  plant,  and  not  more  than  three  are  ever  planted  for 
the  main  crop  in  summer.  As  they  advance  in  leaf  and  root 
extension  soil  can  be  easily  given  by  taking  down  the  bricks 
and  setting  them  out  a  distance  of,  say,  bin  to  Sin  wider  all 
round,  to  be  filled  in  with  new  loamy  compost.  Beyond  lime, 
nothing  of  a  .stimulating  nature  is  reeiuisite  in  the  soil,  and  the 
vigour  of  the  plants,  the  size  and  number  of  advancing  fruits, 
speak  in  eloquent  language,  favouring  cultural  detail  and  sur¬ 
roundings. 
I  am  told  that  one  plant  can  ea.sily  he  made  to  fill  a  com- 
15artment  measuring  quite  30ft  in  length,  the  growth  issuing 
from  the  main  leader  radiating  laterally  along  the  roof  wires, 
and  these  in  turn  furnishing  the  successive  fruiting  growths. 
It  need  not  be  repeated  that  only  close  application  to  their  daily 
needs,  and  the  periodic  linings  of  new  soil,  are  items  that  must 
not  be  neglected  to  ensure  the  high  state  prevailing. — W.  S. 
Apple,  Golden  Pippin. 
Dr.  R.  Hogg  has  quite  a  treatise  on  the  head  of  the  Golden 
Pippin  (“  Fruit  Manual,”  5th  Edition,  p.  91) ;  but  we  are  only  con- 
Apple,  Golden  Pippin. 
cerned  with  a  few  facts  about  the  variety.  It  is  a  very  old  one, 
i  being  the  “small  Golden  Pippin”  i-eferred  to  by  Parkinson,  and 
is  an  esteemed  dessert  Apple,,  though  excluded  from  a  number 
of  nurserymen’s  lists.  The  fruit  is  small,  about  2in  wide  and  the 
same  in  height,  of  a  rich  golden  yellow.  The  fle.sh  is  crisp,  .I’uicy, 
•  and  swee-t,  and  the  fruit  is  in  season  from  November  till  April. 
