April, 1911 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



93 



Montreal Melon Grooving 



Prof. Blair, McDonald College 



THE foilowinsj briefly outlines the 

 method to adopt in growing Mon- 

 I treal melons : Usually we plant 



r direct to three and a half to four 

 inch pots, putting about five seeds 

 to a pot. After the plants are fair- 

 ly well started, in about two or three 

 weeks time, we cut off the inferior plants, 

 leaving only two plants to a pot, and later 

 on one of these is removed. Sometimes 

 we start the seed in f5ats and transplant 

 in pots of the above size, using one plant 

 to a pot. We have given up the use of 

 strawberry boxes for starting plants in, 

 finding that pots are in the end cheaper. 

 The plants seem to do better in them, and 

 they are transplanted from them with less 

 difficulty. 



CORRECT TEMPERATURE 



The seed is germinated at a tempera- 

 ture not lower than sixty-five degrees at 

 night, which may run higher in the day- 

 time. -Avoid over watering at this time, 

 especially chilling by drenching with cold 

 water. As soon as germination is com- 

 plete, a night temperature not above six- 

 ty degrees is advisable. A high tempera- 

 ture with confined atmosphere forces 

 growth too rapidly and a plant that does 

 not stand transplanting well may result. 



We aim to keep the soil in the pots 

 moist, not wet. Give full benefit of sun- 

 light, and all the ventilation that is possi- 

 ble without reducing the temperature too 

 much. We start the seed about the first 

 of the last week in March, about six 

 weeks before planting out into frames. 



About the latter part of April or early 

 in May, the field is prepared by thorough 

 deep cultivation on the heavy types of 

 soil and shallower cultivation on the light- 

 er soils. The ground should be manured 

 with well rotted stable manure at the rate 

 of fifteen tons per acre, spread broad- 

 cast and well worked in. 



PREPARING THE TRENCH 



W^p run out rows ten feet apart with a 

 plow turning the furrows in opposite 

 directions, making a V-shaped trench. 

 .Some of the loo.se soil is shoveled out 

 and this filled with hot manure to a depth 

 of about six inches and twelve inches 

 wide, which is well tramped. The man- 

 ure is then covered with the plow crown- 

 uig the soil somewhat over the manure, 

 leaving the dead-furrow midway between 

 the frames when set. The ground is 

 harrowed and the frames placed evenly 

 over the furrows and fairly close together. 



The frames are placed as early as pos- 

 banked slightly and closed tightly 



siblf 



to trap all of the heat possible. This is 

 important in order to warm the soil thor- 

 oughly for the plants. Towards the end 

 of the first week in May or in a week or 

 ten days time, the plant.s are set. 



PliANTlNQ OUT 



The plants are spaced in a row over the 

 manure eighteen inches apart. Eight 



properly developed plants we consider 

 sufficient for a twelve foot frame of four 

 lights. 



The frames require careful handling 

 to keep the plants well ventilated and 

 yet avoid chilling them. Watering may 

 be necessary, although every advantage 

 should be taken of warm rains. The 

 ground is given frequent shallow hoe- 

 ings to keep the surface loose and kill 

 weeds. Some growers follow the practice 

 of spreading a thin mulch of coarse man- 

 ure around the plant, thus checking evap- 

 oration. This may be advisable under 

 some conditions, but I prefer shallow sur- 

 face cultivation. 



When the vines fill the frames the 

 frames are lifted and blocked up, allowing 

 the vines to run out under the frame. 



well developed when ready to go in the 

 field. In any case, the seed should be 

 sown about four weeks before the plants 

 are required for the field, which time 

 will vary with the location and the state 

 of the weather. We formerly used sods, 

 but not finding them very satisfactory 

 discarded them in favor of berry boxes. 

 We formerly removed the plants from 

 the box at the time of transplanting in 

 the field, but have since found that this is 

 not necessary, as the roots will find their 

 way out through box, and the plants do 

 equally as well without this extra labor. 



Growing Nutmeg Melons 



F. Williams, Ottawa 



I would not advise anyone to go into 

 the business of growing melons unless 

 he has open, sandy soil, with free 

 drainage. Provided soil conditions are 

 right and the land in good, fair condi- 

 tion. Our system is to give a fair 

 dressing of manure in the spring and 

 plow it in and then work thoroughly 

 with the harrow, leaving the field in 

 good condition. In the vicinity of Ot- 

 tawa the seed should be sown about the 

 middle of April so that they will make 

 good stockey plants with the first leaf. 



Intensive Gardening 



Last year I planted eight rows of pota- 

 toes across my garden plot on the tenth 

 day of April. In each hill I placed a cou- 

 ple of seeds of garden peas. In this 

 way the same piece of ground yielded a 

 splendid crop of both potatoes and peas. 

 After the potatoes were hilled up, I pre- 

 pared three of the furrows between the 

 rows for celery plants. I spaded the 

 ground and worked in a generous supply 

 of well rotted manure, .'llong with this 

 I shovelled in some good rich loam. On 

 the i5tb of June I set out my celery 

 plants, which up to this time had been 

 growing first in a hot bed and afterwards 

 in a cold frame until they were strong 

 and stalky. The potato vines partially 

 shaded the plants from the hot sun and 

 held the moisture around their roots, so 

 that in a week or ten days my celery 

 plants had settled down to do business. 

 — J.. W. Kennedy, Lyons, Ont. 



Mr. Geo. Page grew this »pliTidid ooUection of 

 west part of Ontario 



Vegetable Gardening in New Ontario 



vegetables at Kcnora. in the extreme north. 



