MELONS FOR MARKET. 327 



men or restaurant-keepers who are willing to handle melons, and a 

 good sized wagon load of watermelons and muakmelons can be 

 divided between them once or twice each week. In this way I have 

 disposed of the largest crop of melons I could raise, although I 

 have grown as many as ten acres of melons in a single season. 



I generally sell about one-third of my melon crop every year right 

 at home, as a great many come to my place every day for melons, 

 some buying for their own use,othersbuying them by the wagon load 

 for retailing again among the farmers and in near-by villages or 

 cities, and they generally make good wages for the time spent in 

 handling them. 



I have often wondered why melon raising is not a more general 

 avocation, for melons pay better than any other farm crop, although 

 it would not do for every farmer to raise melons extensively, for the 

 market would then soon be glutted; but a number of farmers in 

 most every locality would find it profitable and to their advantage 

 to raise a patch of melons if they have a good location and the 

 right kind of soil. 



WHY SHOULD THE BASSWOOD BE UNPOPULAR? 



G. W. STRAND, SEC'Y MINN. STATE FORESTRY ASSOCIATION, 

 TAYLORS FALLS. 



Tree planting is engaged in much on the same plan as clothing 

 the body. Styles change, and people copy one another until a cer- 

 tain thing or variety becomes "all the rage," quite often to die out 

 as the sight of it becomes ungainly or monotonous and then to shift 

 into some other avenue. 



A few years ago the Cottonwood was enjoying the height of pros- 

 perity, now it is difficult to convince many persons that any other 

 tree will grow except a white willow or a box elder. 



The merits of a variety will always be dependent upon the personal 

 opinion of planters, based upon their success with it in a certain 

 locality, and the success of any particular variety stimulates its 

 use throughout that community. 



Among all. the trees utilized either in timber plantations or as 

 ornamentals, it is rarely the case that the basswood is ever thought 

 of, although few trees in their natural state present a handsomer 

 and more attractive appearance than this much neglected variety. 

 There are very few places in the state where it could not be made to 

 thrive, as it resists drouth well and is also a hardy and long-lived 

 tree. The handsome, clean appearance of its well balanced leafy 

 top, together with the fragrance of its numerous cream colored 

 flowers, which supply the bees with an abundance of the highest 

 grade of nectar, should make it a favorite among our ornamentals, 

 saying nothing of its value as a timber tree. 



The seedlings are a trifle more expensive than some of the more 

 popular varieties, but this alone should not account for its non- 

 favor. It is generally grown from seed, which ripens in the autumn. 

 As the seed does not sprout very satisfactorily,this accounts for the 

 extra cost of the seedlings. It may be sown soon after gathering 

 or kept over winter in a stratified condition, exposed to frosts. Even 



