n of
atmospheric moisture.

Melons in frames do better spread out on the beds than when trained on
trellises. When so grown, each fruit must be supported with a flat tile
or an inverted flower-pot, and means must be taken, by pegs or
otherwise, to prevent it from rolling off, for the twist of stem that
ensues may check the fruit or cause it to fall. When the fruits are as
large as the top joint of a man's thumb, watering may be resumed, and
the syringe used twice a day until the fruit begins to change colour,
when there must be a return to the dry system, but with care to avoid
carrying it to a dangerous extreme.

==The Melon-house==, heated by hot water, is adapted to supply fruit
earlier than is obtainable by frame culture, and is entirely superior to
any frame or pit. It appears, however, that in Melon-houses red spider
is more frequently seen than in frames heated by fermenting material;
but this point rests on management, and there can be nothing more
certain than that a reasonable employment of atmospheric humidity may be
made effectual for preventing and removing this pest. For the convenient
cultivation of the crop a lean-to or half-span is to be preferred. The
width should not exceed twelve feet, and ten to twelve feet should be
the utmost height of the roof. A service of pipes under the bed will be
required; but as Melons are not grown in winter, the heating of a
Melon-house is a simple affair, and, indeed, very much of the
cultivation as the summer advances will be carried on by the aid of
sun-heat only. The treatment of the plants in a house differs from the
frame management, because a trellis is employed, and the plants are
taken up the trellis without stopping until they nearly reach the top,
when the points are pinched out to promote the growth of side shoots. In
setting the fruit, the same principles prevail as in frame culture, and
it is advisable to 'set' the whole crop at once; if two or three fruits
obtain a good start, others that are set later will drop off. As the
fruits swell, support must be afforded to prevent any undue strain on
the vine, and this should be accomplished by nets specially made for the
purpose, or by suspending small flat boards of half-inch deal with
copper wires, each fruit resting on its board, until the cracking round
the stem gives warning that the fruit should be cut and placed in the
fruit room for a few days to complete the ripening for the table. In
houses of the kind