210 MUSKMELON. 
for there will almost certainly be accidents and black 
aphis, and mildew, and damping-off. When the plants 
have stood in the benches two or three weeks, the weak 
ones may be pulled out. It is a good practice, when 
but a single row is planted, to set the plants nearer one 
side than the other, and then leave the wider side of 
the bench empty, and add the soil to it as the plants 
need it. In this way fresh forage is obtained for the 
roots in soil which has not been leached of its plant 
food nor impaired in its mechanical condition; and the 
plants will make a steady growth from start to finish, 
rather than an over-vigorous one at first. If there is 
too much soil, the roots spread through it quickly and 
the plants run at once to vine. 
Sowing and transplanting.— The seeds should be 
sown in pots. We like to place a single seed in a 2- 
inch pot, add in 
about three weeks — 
if in summer or fall 
—to transplant the 
seedling into a 4-inch 
pot. In two or three 
weeks more the plant 
may be set perma- 
nently in the bench 
at the distances indi- 
cated in the above 
paragraph: >" ipsa, 
most excellent plan 
(as explained for cu- 
cumbers) to fill the 
Ss pots only half full of 
72. Melon plant (in 4-inch pot) in fit con- earth or compost at 
dition for transplanting into bench. first, and then fill the 
pot up as soon as the plant overtops the rim. The 
record of one of our crops is as follows: Seeds sown 
August 4; repotted August 30; transplanted to bench 
