CANTALOUPE CULTURE AND PEDIGREED CANTALOUPE SEED. 



Plate No. 3 Leveling Land, and Fining the Soil. 



topic "Irrigation," but the point must be held in mind in many of the 

 operations, and in selecting the field, to have it will drained on the 

 surface as well as the subsoil. 



If no detrimental soil conditions, like seepage or alkali, exists, the 

 question of fertility is usually the most important one in relation to 

 the soil; barnyard manure is an old standby, and cantaloupes of all 

 crops will respond as well to well-rotted-compost better than any form 

 of commercial fertilizer, but experience of the most convincing sort has 

 shown that soil cannot be made to produce good cantaloupes indefinitely, 

 year after year, by applying manure and artificial fertilizers. 



Aside from fertility there are also the questions of plant diseases, 

 soil bacteria, and unbalanced food supply. Crop-rotation has proven to 

 be the most practical and adequate means of preserving not only the 

 proper fertility, but the nearest approach to securing uninfested soil 

 conditions, hence, crop rotation becomes an important phase of cantaloupe 

 culture. 



Alfalfa, to the western ranches occupies the same place that clover 

 does to the eastern farmer, or the cow pea to the southern planter; 

 these crops for their respective sections, provide ideal soil fertility and 

 tilth for the cantaloupe. In Colorado alfalfa sod is the ideal soil prepara- 

 tion for cantaloupes, and a comparison of the results on alfalfa sod 

 with even well manured old land will convince the most skeptical. Plate 

 No. I. Experience has demonstrated that early matured cantaloupes can 

 hardly be expected on soil following a heavy fertility consuming crop, 

 like sugar beets or corn, a good late crop being the usual result. Nearly 



