232 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 



"core/' At present "Kolb's Gem," and the "Rattle- 

 snake," which is also known by several local names, fill 

 these requirements better than any other. 



SOIL AND PREPARATION. 



The soil best adapted to the watermelon is a light, dry, 

 warm sand, lately cleared, or which has not been culti- 

 vated for at least three years. 



This peculiar adaptability of new ground is probably 

 attributable to the opening of the soil by the decaying 

 roots of vegetation. Whatever compacts the soil is in- 

 jurious to the crop. A rainy season, owing partly to the 

 consolidating of the land, is most unfavorable to success. 

 On new ground, the first formed young fruit are more 

 apt to become developed, and in larger numbers, and 

 particularly are they all liable to shrivel and drop off or 

 old recently cultivated land after a heavy rain or frequent 

 lighter ones. This applies particularly to the sandy land 

 of the coast. Notwithstanding the very succulent char- 

 acter of the fruit, wet weather is more damaging than 

 drouth. 



The field having been plowed and harrowed, it is laid 

 off, according to the usual custom, ten or twelve feet 

 each way, to mark the hills. For this purpose, a double 

 mould-board plow is the best implement. It makes 

 straight smooth furrows and wider openings at their 

 crossings for the hills. Instead of these distances I prefer 

 to make my hills six by twelve feet apart, and leave but a 

 single plant in each, rather than two plants. With the 

 same average area for each vine I conceive that the single 

 plants will produce a greater number of large melons to 

 the acre. The openings made by the plow are enlarged 

 to about three feet in diameter, and deepened below the 

 depth of the surface soil, and one or two shovelfuls of 

 decayed stable, cow or hog manure, the latter to be 

 preferred, are dug up and intimately mixed with the sub- 



