THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 301 



and weeds appearing in the hill are removed by hand. Most growers 

 cease tillage and lay-by the crop as soon as the vines have run enough 

 to interfere with the cultivator. The experience of a few growers 

 who have turned the vines and kept them in windows so that tillage 

 could be continued until the picking season opened, indicates that a 

 departure from the old method is likely to insure better development 

 of the melons and a longer picking season, though the first fruits 

 may not ripen so early. There is another distinct advantage in this 

 turning of the vines, in that the gathering of the crop is greatly 

 facilitated and there is no injury to the vines from tramping. 



Seed. No matter what variety of melon is grown, it is ex- 

 tremely important that pure seed be planted if good melons are to be 

 produced. The melon deteriorates very rapidly under careless meth- 

 ods of seed selection. None but the very choicest specimens of the de- 

 sired type, from productive vines, should be selected for seed. It is 

 unsafe to cut seed from a field in which more than one variety of 

 melon is grown ; for seed from such a field would likely be very badly 

 mixed, and the product undesirable for market. If a grower has sale 

 for all his good melons, it may be cheaper for him to purchase his 

 seed than to save it. But here again there is danger of procuring in- 

 ferior seed, for much of the melon seed on the market is cut without 

 careful selection, in order to meet the demand for cheap seed. Even 

 cull melons are used to supply this demand. Such seed is expensive 

 at any price. The difference in the cost of good seed and poor seed 

 is insignificant when compared with the advantages to be derived 

 from the use of seed which can be depended upon to produce melons 

 of a given type. 



Picking. There is considerable difference of opinion as to the 

 exact stage of maturity at which melons should be picked for ship- 

 ment. If allowed to become too ripe before picking, they become 

 soft by the time they reach the market, and often must be sacrificed 

 in order to effect an immediate sale. If picked too green, the melons 

 reach market in firm condition, but are lacking in flavor, and are not 

 desired by the best trade. It is a nice point to pick melons at such a 

 degree of ripeness that they will reach the market in firm condition, 

 and yet possess the requisite flavor. The farther from market the 

 melons are produced, the less mature they must be when picked. 

 Furthermore, the rapidity of softening after picking varies with the 

 temperature to which the melons are subjected. The cooler they can 

 be kept after picking, the longer they can be allowed to remain on 

 the vines and the better flavor they will have. It is, therefore, essen- 

 tial that the melons be placed in the shade as soon as possible after 

 picking, and be kept shaded until they are loaded into the car. For 

 the same reason, riper melons can be shipped under the refrigeration 

 than in ventilated cars. It is also true that melons shipped during 

 excessively hot weather, unless under refrigeration, will soften more 

 rapidly than those shipped during cooler weather. The condition of 

 the vines and the rapidity of ripening of the melons in the field will 

 also have a bearing upon the stage or maturity at which they should 

 be picked. Early in the shipping season, when the vines are in full 



