Produced by Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) THE ART OF PROMOTING THE GROWTH OF THE Cucumber and Melon; IN A SERIES OF DIRECTIONS FOR THE BEST MEANS TO BE ADOPTED IN BRINGING THEM TO _A COMPLETE STATE OF PERFECTION_. * * * * * BY THOMAS WATKINS, _Many Years Foreman with Mr. Grange, of Hackney, and now with W. Knight, Esq. Highbury Park._ * * * * * LONDON: PUBLISHED BY HARDING, ST. JAMES'S STREET; AND SOLD BY GRANGE AND DULLY, FRUITERERS, COVENT GARDEN; MASON AND SON, SEEDSMEN, FLEET STREET; WARNER AND CO. SEEDSMEN, CORNHILL; GARRAWAY, NURSERY AND SEEDSMAN, NEAR MARYLAND POINT, STRATFORD, ESSEX; AND BY THE AUTHOR, AT HIGHBURY. 1824. * * * * * PRINTED BY S. CAVE, ISLINGTON GREEN. * * * * * THE ART OF PROMOTING THE GROWTH OF THE Cucumber and Melon. ADVERTISEMENT. The author begs to inform the purchasers of this work, that it was originally his intention to have given an engraving of the particular description of cucumber and melon, which he has been so successful in bringing to a state of perfection; and, in fact, a plate was executed, at a considerable expense, for that purpose. Finding, however, that although accurate in its representation of _fine_ fruit, it did not pourtray the difference, nor convey the precise idea of those qualities which constitute the superiority of the author's; and aware that such would have been obvious to every experienced gardener, the design was necessarily abandoned, trusting, that as it was merely intended for an embellishment, its deficiency will not render the work less valuable to the profession. CONTENTS. The Cucumber Seed-bed for October Page 1 The Fruiting Frame for early Plants 14 The Seed-bed for January 43 On the Culture of the late Cucumber 46 On the Hand-glass Cucumber 51 Dimensions of the Boxes and Lights for early and late Cucumbers 59 On the Culture of early and late Melons 65 Dimensions of the Boxes and Lights for ditto 83 Preface. Having, when young, imbibed a particular inclination to study the culture of the cucumber and melon, under the direction of my father, whose character as an early framer was in high repute, I assiduously tried every experiment which was calculated to improve upon his system, by bringing them to a more complete state of perfection.