The Garden Under Glass

CUCUMBERS AND MELONS 187 done twice daily in fine weather, at nine a.m. when opening the lights and between two and three p.m. when closing them. The manipulation of the shoots is not so difficu.lt as may be imagined. When the main growth gets near to reaching the top or bottom of the frame it may be stopped. Each other growth should be stopped just beyond the first leaf after the fruit. As there becomes a network of growth this stopping becomes mainly a matter of thinning by cutting out the older growths and encouraging young ones. Cucumbers may also, of course, be grown in a house, trained to wires. A forcing or propagating house would suit them best. Here they require heat and moisture and regulation of the growths so as to cover the trellis with fruiting wood. How to Grow Melons Those of my readers who have only a small amount of glass will want to use it to the best advantage, and I feel that they can best do this by growing melons in a frame. It is not a difficult matter to choose a variety which is known to do satisfactorily under frame treatment. Hero of Lockinge and Ringleader can be safely recommended for this purpose. If a heated pit is available it is, of course, preferable that it be used, but even then it is a good plan to make up a hotbed to give bottom heat. In the early stages melons may be grown precisely like cucumbers until they have got nicely settled in a 3-inch pot. The preparation of the hotbed will also be similar, the soil being made up in a mound in the centre. But the soil for melons will differ. They relish a heavy medium made porous with lime rubble and wood ashes. In this they may be planted after they have got over the pinching. For when they are a few inches high the point of each plant will be pinched