2030 



MELON 



MELON 



seed is covered about ]/% inch deep; in irrigated regions 

 it is covered about !*/ inches. 



Attempts to substitute commercial fertilizer for 

 manure in enriching muskmelon hills have usually 

 resulted unsatisfactorily; and attempts to grow melons 

 without special treatment of the individual hills have 

 resulted in failure except on land already very rich, 

 such as market-garden soil or alfalfa sod plowed under. 



2353. Crate -or box -packing of melons. 



Since muskmelons demand a relatively high tem- 

 perature and are easily injured by frost, it is useless to 

 plant the seed in the open ground until the weather 

 has become warm and settled. Planting in Colorado, 

 Illinois, Indiana, and similar latitudes usually takes 

 place from May 10 to 20. Attempts to increase the 

 earliness of melons by protection of the plants in the 

 field by means of hand-boxes or forcing-hills are applica- 

 ble only to amateur areas. Starting the plants in hot- 

 beds and transplanting them to the field when about 

 four weeks old is more practicable on a commercial 

 scale. Since a melon plant is likely to die if the root 

 system is disturbed in transplanting, the seeds must be 

 sown in pots or dirt-bands, or on inverted sods, and the 

 plants very carefully handled during transplanting. 



Muskmelon hills are placed from 4 to 6 feet apart, 

 and the plants are thinned to two or three in each hill. 

 Tillage is begun as soon as the plants are visible, and 

 is repeated at frequent intervals until the vines cover 

 the ground, or until the crop is harvested. In the latter 

 case, the vines are kept in windrows, thus allowing 

 space for the pickers as well as permitting late tillage. 



In irrigated regions and in rich garden soil, musk- 

 melons are often planted in drills instead of hills. 

 The rows are made 6 or 7 feet apart, and the plants 

 thinned to 2 feet apart in the row. If the crop is to be 

 irrigated, the seed is sown close to the irrigation fur- 

 rows, and the water turned in immediately after plant- 

 ing, to insure germination. Irrigation is repeated 

 according to the demands of the crop, until the melons 

 are well developed; then the water is withheld to a 

 large extent, and little if any irrigation is given during 

 the picking season. Comparative dryness of the soil 

 when the melons ripen favors the development of high 

 quality in the fruits. 



In addition to tillage (and irrigation, in an arid 

 climate), the care of muskmelons consists principally 

 in protecting them from their enemies. Striped cucum- 

 ber beetles are likely to attack the plants as soon as 

 they appear above ground. They may be controlled 

 by the application of a repellant, such as turpentine 

 mixed with land plaster and dusted on the plants, or 

 bordeaux mixture applied as a spray. The melon louse 

 or aphis is often a serious enemy, especially in dry 

 seasons. It is readily controlled by spraying with 

 nicotine sulfate, if precaution is taken to reach the 

 undersides of the leaves with the spray. The leaf-spot 

 or "rust" is a fungous disease that attacks the foliage 

 of muskmelons, and in some localities has interfered 

 seriously with the production of a marketable crop. 

 In the case of a severe attack it so weakens the vines 



that the melons do not develop properly and are of 

 poor flavor. This disease has been controlled success- 

 fully by repeated spraying with bordeaux mixture, 

 the turning of the vines into windrows making late 

 spraying possible. Also, rust-resistant strains of melons 

 have been developed; so that the disease is no longer a 

 serious menace to the melon industry. 



Harvesting and marketing. 



Muskmelons must be picked while still firm in order 

 to reach the market in an acceptable condition, yet if 

 they are removed from the vines too early they lack 

 flavor. Unless the market is too distant, melons of the 

 Netted Gem type should not be picked until they will 

 part readily from the stem, and the color of the skin 

 changes slightly from green to gray as seen through the 

 netting. To get the melons picked uniformly at this 

 stage, it is necessary to go over the plantation every 

 day, and in hot weather twice a day. 



In order that melons may be kept as cool as possible 

 after they are picked, they are taken immediately to 

 the shade of a packing-shed, where they are graded 

 and packed in crates or baskets. The standard crate 

 for Colorado melons (already mentioned) has been 

 adopted in several other states. It contains forty-five 

 standard-size melons, or twenty-seven to thirty-six 

 "Jumbo" melons. "Pony" crates are slightly smaller 

 (11 by 11 by 22 J4 inches), and are packed with fifty- 

 four smaller melons. The melons in the standard 

 crate are arranged in three tiers of fifteen melons each, 

 and each tier is three melons wide and five melons long. 

 Since the crate is made of slats, forty-two of the forty- 

 five melons can be seen from the outside. This permits 

 thorough inspection of the contents of every crate, 

 both at the shipping-point and on the market. Rigid 

 inspection before shipment has helped materially in 

 establishing the reputation of Rocky Ford melons on 

 the markets. California melons and some of the 

 Colorado melons are wrapped in tissue paper to insure 

 better keeping in long-distance shipments. When so 

 handled, the packing is more rigidly supervised, and 

 less dependence is placed on inspection at the loading- 

 platform. 



If melons are to be more than twenty-four hours 

 en route, they are usually shipped under refrigeration. 

 The crates are loaded three tiers high, and ample 

 space is left for circulation of cold air. A minimum 

 carload consists of 364 crates, averaging sixty-six 

 pounds each, and the melons seem to reach market in 

 better condition if the cars are not more heavily loaded. 



2354. Basket - packing of melons. 



