The Culture of the Melon for Profit 



J. Od. Beaudry, M.D., St.^Jacques de I'Achigan, Quebec 



FOUR principal things have to be 

 considered in order to assure suc- 

 cess in the culture of the melon — 

 the kind of soil, the best method, the best 

 cut and the best care. A sandy loam soil 

 is most favorable. Every means should 

 be taken to render the ground suitable, 

 whether by special manures or by pecul- 

 iar improvements in order that the 

 ground may contain all the best fertiliz- 

 ing principles. 



METHOD OF OULTUEE 



The best method of culture is that 

 which makes the plant profit from the 

 solar influence, which facilitates the free 

 circulation of the air, and which makes 

 the fruit absorb solar rays. This meth- 

 od exposes them to the influence of light. 

 The culture of the melon upon knolls 

 appeals to all these conditions in prefer- 

 ence to any other method. I recom- 

 mend, therefore, hotbeds and windows 

 (sashes) in preference to the flat ground. 

 This kind of culture assures a greater 

 quantity of fruit and gives more strength 

 to the plants. The ascending direction 

 of the sap and the descending direction 

 of the branches, are the two great fac- 

 tors in this method. 



By this method one can get at least 

 ten melons a mound and even more. This 

 is the smallest number I raise from my 

 mounds ; generally I have more. If you 

 cultivate only one plant on a mound, 

 your melons will be bigger but, if the 

 fruit is to be sold, it is far better to 

 leave two plants a mound which will 

 give twenty melons. On an acre, at a 

 distance of six feet from each other, you 

 have 900 mounds. At twenty melons 

 each mound this will yield 18,000 melons 

 which, at ten cents each, will give a 

 revenue of $1800.00. 



In spring as soon as the ground is in 

 order and the weather favorable, I place 

 my hotbeds six feet apart on the ground, 

 which was well prepared in the fall. I 

 then dig only the ground where the hot- 

 bed should be placed. I fill the hotbed 

 with the best mould containing twenty 

 per cent, of pigeon's dung thoroughly 

 mixed with the mould, leaving two or 

 three inches between the hotbed and the 

 ground. The front part of the hotbed 

 should be nine inches high while the 

 back twelve inches. The v^'idth of the 

 ba.se of the hotbed should be twenty-six 

 inches, and of the top nineteen inches. 

 The depth at the base should be twenty- 

 six inches and at the top twenty inches. 

 Each pane of glass should measure fif- 

 teen by sixteen inches. The size of the 

 hotbed can vary in size as one wishes, 

 and consequently that of the frames. My 



•Extracts from an address delivered before the 

 Quebec Pomological Society at La Trappe last 

 summer. 



frames are made of one inch spruce 

 boards. 



SOWING THE SEEDS 



Now, having made the surface of the 

 mould even in the hotbed, I sow from ten 

 to fifteen melon seeds with proper spac- 

 ing. When the plant has sufficiently 

 grown, I sort the plants, keeping the 

 best ones. Then, gradually, I clear the 

 ground so as to leave one or two a 

 mound. 



VENTILATION 



As soon as the seeds begin to grow 

 I move the window somewhat to allow 

 the air to circulate through the corners 

 of the box. I move the window thus be- 

 tween seven and eight o'clock in the 

 morning. According as the sun gives 

 more heat and as the plant grows, I 

 move the window more and more. 



At night I push the window back into 

 its place about an hour before sunset so 

 as to keep the heat inside the box. I 

 then cover the hotbed with a heavy cov- 

 ering. The hotbed should be surround- 

 ed by dirt at least six inches thick and 

 two-thirds of the height of the hotbed 

 frame.. The covering made with empty 

 salt-bags should be thick enough so as 

 to preserve mounds from low tempera- 

 ture, and should be put on the frame 

 every evening, as soon as the melon 

 seeds are sown, and then taken off after 

 sunrise. 



WATEfiING 



We should never water nor warm 

 melon plants at night, when the nights 

 are cold, but in the morning. On the 

 contrary, when nights are warm, we 

 should water them an hour at least be- 

 fore sunrise, then close the frame and 

 cover it. Rain water heated by the sun 

 is preferable to all waters, because it 

 contains more fertilizing principles. For 

 want of rain water, we can use other 

 waters — but waters which have been 

 heated by the sun. 



I water the melon plants with purin 

 (French word) — a liquid manure — and 

 common water ; then, I warm with one- 

 quarter of purin mixed with three-fourths 

 of water. My melons are very aromatic 

 and juicy. During the period of the cul- 

 ture of the melon, the watering should 

 be made so that it may reach the inter- 

 ior of the mound three or four times, ac- 

 cording to the dryness of the mound and 

 to the temperature of the weather. The 

 warming should be done every night or 

 every morning, according to moisture of 

 the night, because leaves are the soul of 

 the plant or in other words, its pulmon- 

 ary surface. 



CUTTING AND PINCHING 



When the melon plant has four leaves 

 and the fourth one is big like the nail 

 of a thumb, I cut the stem under the 

 third ; and I put dust-land on the wound ; 



U 



yet one is not obliged to do that. We 

 should never cut cotyledons (the seed 

 leaves). The ojxjration causes great 

 harm to the plant. I never touch branch- 

 es that come out from the arm-pit of 

 cotyledons, because from these, appear 

 the first female flowers ; but, if they do 

 not give any female flowers I pinch them 

 without intrenching them. 



When the fourth leaf appears on new 

 branches I again cut the stem under the 

 third leaf. This is the second cut. 



New branches appear, and when they 

 have four leaves, that is to say, when 

 the fourth one appears, this time I cut 

 above the third. This is the third cut. 

 By this cut male and female flowers ap- 

 pear. 



I make a fourth cut, also a fifth one. 

 If the female flowers do not appear at 

 the fifth leaf, I then pinch the branches 

 just after the fifth leaf. It is necessary 

 to see and to know how, and when, we 

 should pinch. When the female flowers 

 appear we should not pinch branches im- 

 mediately, because you would destroy the 

 coming fruit in bringing the plethora of 

 the sap to the branch before the vessels 

 of the peduncle (stalk) of the female 

 flower have taken enough development to 

 receive it with profit. Likewise too great 

 dryness at the interior of the mound 

 brings a considerable diminution of the 

 sap ; consequently, the death of the plant 

 and of the female flower. Therefore we 

 have to wait three or four days before 

 the female flower opens in order to pinch 

 the extremity of the branch. Then you 

 fold slowly the extremity of the branch 

 while having it form an acute angle on 

 the right of the insertion of the peduncle 

 in such a manner that the latter may ap- 

 pear to form the lengthening of the 

 branch and we fix it thus by means of 

 two small branches. This is the best 

 way to have the fruit knotted. If on the 

 mound there are no male flowers but 

 only female flowers, and though 

 draughts, bees, etc., would favor the 

 transportation of the pollen ; yet it is 

 prudent to gather flowers from the near- 

 est mound — also to shake the stamens 

 on the pistil of the female flower, in or- 

 der to assure fertility. 



When the fruit is knotted, that is to 

 say when it has acquired the size of an 

 egg, we cut the branch about two or 

 three inches above the melon. If other 

 branches come forth in the arm-pit it is 

 better to take them ofl'. If there are 

 branches not bearing fruit we should 

 take out some of their wood with great 

 precaution. 



We should not forget that, if we wish 

 to get excellent melons, the solar rays 

 have to reach them entirely and continu- 

 ally. This is the reason why we should 



