326 MINNEAPOLIS STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



twenty seeds over this inclined space and throw in the soil, patting 

 it with the back of the spade. The seeds will be covered from one 

 and a half to two inches deep. This is the best method I have ever 

 tried for planting- melon seeds, for some of the seeds are sure to 

 grow, whether the season be wet or dry, and if the first plants are 

 spoiled by insects, more will appear in a few days. Melon seeds 

 should never be planted immediately after a rain, as the soil will 

 bake and form a crust. Where it is desired to prolong the ripening 

 season of some early melons, successive plantings should be made 

 every two weeks until the middle of June, In some seasons this 

 late planting will be cut off by frosts in the early fall, but, as a 

 general rule, in two seasons out of three, it will produce a good 

 crop. 



Picking and Marketing.— Watermelons should not be picked 

 until ripe. Picking green melons is both a net loss to the grower 

 and spoils further sales. It is better to be patient and leave the 

 fruit on the vines until they are ripe. Let your competitor sell the 

 green melons, and keep your reputation up for growing good, sweet- 

 flavored and large sized melons; for then your selling is half done. 



To be able to tell when a melon is ripe requires close observation 

 and some experience, I will give some of the indications I use in 

 telling this, but it must be borne in mind that not all of them are 

 always present in every melon, and there is also a difference in the 

 appearance of different varieties, and then, also,the indications may 

 vary in different seasons. Note carefully the sound, color and stem 

 of the melon. When struck lightly a ripe melon sounds somewhat 

 dull, as your boot does when tapped lightly with the fingers. 

 Another test is to press on the melon with the thumb; if it is unripe 

 the rind will be soft, if ripe the rind will be hard. Pressing lightly 

 with the palm of the hand is another test; if ripe it will yield 

 slightly to the pressure and a sharp cracking of the flesh is heard. 

 Melons turned yellow on the under side are usually ripe. When the 

 little curl at the stem of the melon is dry,it sometimes indicate ripe- 

 ness, but not always. The color of the melon should be carefully 

 noted. When the color turns dull and roseated on the top of the 

 melon, it is surely ripe. The color is always glossy on a green 

 melon. 



Melons should be picked in the morning when they are cool and 

 before the sun has made them warm,for they can then be kept longer 

 and in better condition. 



In marketing melons I have found it the best method to sell to the 

 retail dealer. If the melons are warranted to him to be good and 

 ripe, and he can rely on the grower to replace them if green or bad, 

 he will be a staunch friend of the grower. Always patronize home 

 industry instead of sending your product away to some distant 

 ■wholesaler, for you run the risk, after paying the freight, of getting 

 some of your shipments classed as bad and in a long run losing a 

 good share of your expected profits. It also gives your home dealer 

 an opportunity to dispose of some of his goods in trade for melons, 

 as the grower can conveniently take such goods in exchange as he 

 has present need of. In every village or small city there are grocery- 



