CANTALOUPE CULTURE AND PEDIGREED CANTALOUPE SEED. 



Plate No. 7 Irrigating to Germinate Seed, Without Flooding. 



The application of water to all such crops as cantaloupes should be 

 by sub-irrigation, that is, the moisture should soak through the soil to 

 the plant or seed, from the irrigation furrow, without the surface of the 

 soil, except in the furrows coming in contact with the water; this is essen- 

 tial, not only for the needs of the plants, but also the same amount of 

 water will serve a longer time, the needs of the plants, the water rights 

 in some ditches makes it necessary to conserve the moisture as long as 

 possible. 



In order to supply the moisture uniformly to the seed along the row, 

 the seed must have been planted at a uniform distance from the water line, 

 about four to six inches, to insure uniformity in the soaking of the rows, 

 the rows should be "logged" out, or smoothed out with a short piece of 

 log about the size of the furrow; this will cause the water to run through 

 quickly, and by regulating the amount in each row, the rows will become 

 uniformly wet without flooding or soaking the ground. Plate No. 7 

 shows a field being properly irrigated, to germinate the seed. When the 

 water can be gotten through the rows quickly and the amount regulated 

 to supply the row about as fast as it soaks in the soil, the upper and 

 lower parts of the row will become wet at about the same time and amount, 

 with practically little water wasted. 



The idea is to soak the rows until the water has fully reached the 

 seed, while the surface over the hill remains nearly dry; this is ideal con- 



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