186 



THE CA.NADIAN H0RTICULTTTRI8T. 



THE WATERMELON. 

 Hon. C. M. Clay, of all fruits, most 

 esteems the watermelon, believing them 

 when fully matured exceedingly health- 

 ful, and keeping down tendencies to 

 fever. He says the meat should be red, 

 clear, fine grained, tender and sweet, 

 that but one variety should be planted 

 at a time, but if more are planted they 

 should be set very far apart, as they 

 hybridize very easily, and even at great 

 distance, the wind and the bees convey 

 the pollen of one variety to the flowers 

 of another. He has never succeeded in 

 getting two first-class crops from the 

 same ground in succession, and has 

 found blue grass sod the best for them, 

 and second in desirability newly cleared 

 land. He recommends as fertilizer sand 

 mixed with the vegetable debris of 

 forests, or well rotted sods from fence 

 corners or highways. He manages the 

 striped bug and takes care of the vines 

 in the following manner. "As soon as 

 the seed are planted and struck with 

 the shovel to compact the surface, in 

 order to prevent the escape of moisture, 

 I place shingles upon each hill to trap 

 the striped bug, the great enemy of the 

 vines. They seek the shelter of the 

 shingles in the cool nights, when each 

 evening and early morning they must 

 be turned over and the bugs killed with 

 a paddle. Many persons fail to raise 

 melons because of these bugs, which 

 conceal themselves in the ground and 

 suck the juices of the young plants, and 

 may never be seen till the whole crop 

 is destroyed. An old melon raiser told 

 me that he was in the habit of making 

 blazing fires in his melon grounds at 

 night, and that bugs would fall into the 

 flames and be killed ; I never tried it, 

 finding the shingle trap sufficient. As 

 soon as the plants are well up you may 

 begin the thinning, till, as they get 

 past the chances of destruction by the 

 bugs and their leaves are well formed, 

 they must be thinned to two plants in a 



hill. As the plants advance, the weeds 

 must be kept well under before the 

 vines, but never touch behind them, as 

 the vine will not admit of being handled 

 or moved. I think nearly the same 

 weight of fruit will be produced with- 

 out topping or shortening the vines, 

 but if large specimens are wanted, after 

 the fruit is set, the ends of the side 

 shoots and the main runner may be 

 pinched oflf, so as to force all the sap 

 into the few melons left for maturity. 

 It is best to cultivate the vines late in 

 the afternoon, so that the roots injured 

 by the cultvator, plow or hoe, can have 

 the whole night to recover before the 

 sun comes upon them. When ripe they 

 should be gathered early in the morning 

 when cool, for the sun gives them the 

 dull sound which maturity produces. 

 They should be thumped lightly with 

 the finger nail, when, if they sound with 

 a metallic ring, seeming to pass through 

 the whole melon, they are yet green ; 

 but if the sound is dull and seemingly 

 confined to the rind, the melon is ripe. 

 When the belly next the gi'ound is 

 white, or the curl of green fresh vines 

 dead, these are also indications of 

 ripeness. As the frequent walking to 

 the hills to kill the bugs solidifies the 

 surface, it ought to be lightly hoed 

 towards the end of this operation. No 

 careless persons should be allowed to 

 enter the melon grounds, as a vine trod 

 upon ceases to be useful ; and the one 

 who gathers the fruit should have a 

 long stick to steady himself, and to 

 displace the leaves to find a place for 

 his feet. It also often happens that 

 the vines on clean surfaces find nothing 

 to lay hold of with their tendrils, and 

 are blown over by the winds and se- 

 verely injured. In such case they should 

 be set upright, and clods placed on the 

 leaves to steady them, or small sticks 

 set near the vines for the tendrils to lay 

 hold of. Avoid walking on the ground 

 when quite wet, and never hill up or 



