20 MELON CULTURE 



other words, to constantly have a supply of two 

 or three-year old seeds on hand. 



Testing the Seed. — There is, perhaps, not so much 

 necessity for the melon grower to test his seeds as 

 there is for the general truck grower, or the grain 

 farmer, because, as we have already seen, melon 

 seed will retain its vitality for a number of years 

 if properly cured and stored, and so there is not so 

 much danger of getting seed which has lost much, if 

 not all, of its vitality on account of age. Formerly 

 it was not an uncommon thing for seedsmen to 

 keep over any surplus seeds from one year to an- 

 other in order to guard against any possible failure 

 of the seed crop the following season. In case of 

 a shortage in any crop, these old seeds could be 

 mixed with the new, and still the new crop would 

 maintain a fairly respectable percentage of germina- 

 tion. I do not believe that this is the case now, 

 however, especially with our old and well-estab- 

 lished seed firms, but, instead, their seeds are all 

 tested for germination before they are sent out. 

 Nevertheless, the melon grower has quite as much 

 at stake as has the general farmer when he plants 

 his crop, and so it behooves him to make himself 

 absolutely sure that his seed is going to grow, as 

 upon this fact depends success or failure. 



How to Test the Seed. — If there is a little space 

 in the hotbed that will not be occupied for a few 

 days, the seeds may be sowed in a flat or shallow 

 box and set in the hotbed, where the conditions 

 will be most favorable for germination. One hun- 

 dred seeds of each of the lots to be tested will not 

 require much room, and the percentage of germina- 

 tion may be easily reckoned. If ten per cent, or 



