CANTALOUPE CULTURE AND PEDIGREED CANTALOUPE SEED. 



The grower who buys his seed should deal directly with a reliable 

 breeder who is qualified, and is making a specialty of growing the crop 

 for seed; a grower should not submit his seed order for "lowest bid" if 

 he expects good seed. He must be willing to pay as much, at least, for 

 the seed as the cantaloupes from which it was saved, would bring had 

 they been marketed, in Colorado that would mean from one to two dollars 

 per pound, as it requires at least a standard crate to save a pound of 

 select seed. 



The seed from the arid region in high altitudes has proven to be 

 superior to seed grown in the humid sections, both for vigor and early 

 maturity. The big cantaloupe growers from California and the Southern 

 states realize this, for they look to Rocky Ford each year for their can- 

 taloupe seed, and all testify that they get earlier and more uniform canta- 

 loupes from the Rocky Ford grown seed. 



PLANTING AND SECURING A STAND 



The first requisite in planting cantaloupes, is to have the weather 

 warm, for warmth and moisture are the two essentials in seed germina- 

 tion. Many growers make the mistake of planting while the ground 

 is yet cold, with freezing temperature occurring every few nights. If per- 

 chance the days are warm enough to germinate the seed, the plants are 

 stunted and make a slow tantalizing growth, should they be so fortunate 

 as to escape these late frosts of spring. 



As a general rule, a few days before the latest freeze may be ex- 

 pected, is as early as it is safe to plant. At Rocky Ford, May 1st, marks 

 the usual date of the latest frost, but even then there are risks to run, 

 as killing frosts have occurred as late as the tenth of May, or even later. 

 It is common for cantaloupes planted as early as the tenth of May to 

 begin to ripen as soon as the earlier planted seed, so as a rule it is not to 

 much advantage to plant very early; the grower, must be the judge in 

 regard to his soil and climate. 



There are two systems of planting cantaloupes, the drill-row and in 

 hills. In the hill system, the field is check-rowed like corn, to permit cul- 

 tivating in each direction, the rows usually being laid off five to six feet 

 apart, and the hills about the same distance in the rows. By dropping eight 

 to ten seed to the hill, it will require about a pound of seed to plant an 

 acre. It is advisable to plant plenty of seed in order to secure a good 

 stand, allowing for the attacks of the cutworms and other destruc- 

 tive agencies. 



There are two methods of planting cantaloupes in hills, with a hoe, 

 and with a hand planter, commonly called a "snapper" shown in Plate 

 No. 5. The rotary type of this form of planter is usually the most satis- 

 factory, but some modifications are usually necessary to fit it for dropping 

 cantaloupe seed. 



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