288 VEGETABLE GARDENING 



to make the fruit ripen earlier and to avoid the attacks 

 of the striped beetle, the plants are often started in pots 

 and on sods in hotbeds or frames, as recommended for 

 cucumbers. It is a good plan also to place a piece of glass 

 or board under the melons when those of the best quality 

 are desired, since this keeps them off the ground, and they 

 ripen more evenly in consequence. 



Yields. Yields vary in different sections of the country; 

 from one hundred to two hundred crates of forty-five 

 melons each is probably a good average yield. 



Varieties. Melons vary much in size, form, color of 

 skin and flesh, and in quality. The New Hampshire exper- 

 iment station,* has made some eight groups of American 

 muskmelons. Among the more important melons of these 

 groups are: 



Rocky ford, a melon having light-green flesh of smooth 

 texture, grown in all melon sections, and an excellent 

 variety for home and market use. 



Montreal, or Montreal Beauty, is grown in Canada for 

 market and occasionally in home use. Fruits are large 

 and of fine quality. 



Osage or Miller's Cream. A large melon having firm 

 salmon-colored flesh, is very productive, and highly esteem- 

 ed for the market and home garden. It is perhaps the 

 best shipping sort now grown. 



Emerald Gem is a very prolific melon, with small but 

 very superior fruit that is valuable for home use ; green 

 fleshed. 



WATERMELON (Citrullis vulgaris) 



Description. Native .of Africa. An annual. A vine 

 of the same general habit as the muskmelon, but the 

 leaves are deeply lobed, and the whole plant is covered 



Technical Bulletin No. 2. 



