220 MUSKMELON. 
as follows: ‘‘The melon was by far the most toothsome 
article that has passed my lips this winter. Its flavor 
carried me back to early fall, and made me doubt my 
senses when I looked out of the window and saw snow 
on the ground, and saw by the calendar that we had 
begun the new year. I am greatly obliged to you for 
being able to satisfy a summer taste in midwinter.” 
The varieties, then, which we chiefly recommend for 
forcing, are Blenheim? Orange, Hero of Lockinge, Mas- 
terpiece, Sutton A 1, Imperial, with, perhaps, Emerald 
Gem for early. 
Yields and markets.— A good crop of melons in the 
winter months is an average of two to three fruits to the 
plant. This means that some plants must bear four or 
five melons, for there will almost certainly be some plants 
upon which no fruit can be made to set. The larger the 
fruits, the fewer each plant can mature. Four or five 
pounds of fruit to the vine is all that can reasonably be 
expected after November. In fall (that is, early Novem- 
ber or earlier) and late spring crops, the grower should 
expect four to five melons to the plant (with the plants 
2 feet apart each way); this is about all that one can 
obtain, even from small varieties like Emerald Gem. Of 
the larger sorts, like Blenheim Orange, three or four 
fruits is a good crop. In midwinter, we have not yet 
been able to average above two good melons to the plant, 
at 2 feet apart each way. The fruits will continue to ripen 
for a week after they are picked. Ordinarily, if seeds 
of Emerald Gem, Blenheim Orange, Hero of Lockinge, 
or other early varieties, are sown August first, fruits may 
be expected early in November. If the fruits are desired 
in January, there should be two or three weeks’ delay 
in sowing. All plants grow slowly in the short, dark 
days of midwinter. The novice should not attempt to 
secure fruits later than Christmas time, for the growing 
of melons should be undertaken cautiously at first. 
The market for forced muskmelons will always be 
