348 VEGETABLE FORCING 



Favorite, Hero of Lockinge and Buscot Park Hero. All 

 of these varieties are recommended by Turner of New 

 Jersey, who has had extended experience in forcing 

 melons. Other varieties recommended by growers are 

 Blenheim Orange, Rocky Ford and Paul Rose. 



The utmost care should be exercised in procuring good 

 seed. Some of the seedsmen, especially in England, 

 make a specialty of producing pure strains of the leading 

 varieties. Melons mix very readily in the greenhouse 

 where two or more varieties are growing. If bees are 

 flying from flower to flower, mixing is almost certain to 

 occur, and it is unlikely that the seed from such crosses 

 would produce satisfactory fruits. If only one variety is 

 used and bees are not entering the houses from outside 

 plantations, there is no reason why one should not save 

 seed from plants which are giving the best results. 



Starting plants. Melons are started in the same way 

 as cucumber plants. See page 308. Seed may be sown in 

 pots, shifts being made as explained for the cucumber on 

 page 310, or they may be sown in beds or flats and the 

 seedlings pricked into pots or perhaps into beds, as 

 shown in Fig. 109. Whatever the method, the growth of 

 the plants must not be checked at any time, for such 

 plants never recover and produce good crops. The 

 night temperature should be from 70 to 75 degrees and 

 the day temperature in bright weather 10 to 15 degrees 

 higher. 



Seed should be sown not later than September 1 if fruit 

 is wanted for Christmas. December 15 is a satisfactory 

 time to sow for spring harvesting and later sowings will 

 produce early summer melons. 



Soil. While many of the finest field melons are pro- 

 duced on sandy soils, fairly heavy types of soil seem to 

 give the best results in the forcing of this vegetable. 

 Some of the best yields have been obtained in clay soils, 

 though a moderate amount of sand mav be an advantage. 



