66 HATCH EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



many growers having their own .strains, from which they would 

 depart only with great reluctance. It can only be said that 

 the earliest varieties which are otherwise satisfactory should 

 be grown. From the present outlook, the early fruit must 

 form the bulk of the melon crop. 



Spraying. — Considerable success in preventing the at- 

 tacks of all these fungi has been obtained in various experi- 

 ments and places by spraying melons and cucumbers. No 

 very extensive results have been obtained, however, Avith 

 the melon crop in this State. Mr. Marshall's fields were 

 sprayed seven or eight times during the season with various 

 copper fungicides. All the plants were sprayed, so that it 

 is impossible to say just what was gained, and whether the 

 anthracnose which appeared in July would otherwise have 

 proved more destructive. Judged by the case described in 

 our 1900 report, there was a decided gain in this respect. 

 Certainly Mr. Marshall's vines kept alive some time longer 

 than the average in the State or vicinity, and the spraying 

 appeared to have been of advantage. Mr. L. W. Goodell, 

 the Pansy Park seedsman, sprayed with Bordeaux mixture, 

 and in his field a gain of from one to two weeks in the life of 

 the most thoroughly sprayed portions was plainly apparent. 

 Thorough spraying of melons is difficult, for two reasons, — 

 the prostrate position of the plant, making it almost impos- 

 sible to spray the under side of the leaves, and the rough, 

 hairy surface of the leaf, to which the spray does not readily 

 adhere. 



At present the following recommendations seem advisable 

 for this trouble : try, by the methods suggested above, to 

 mature the crop as early as possible ; spray with Bordeaux 

 mixture with great thoroughness throughout the season, be- 

 ginning as early as July 1. 



Stem Rots and AVilt Diseases. 

 Troubles of this sort, in which affected plants show a wilt- 

 ing and withering of the leaves, caused by a more or less 

 rapid decay of the stem, appear to be largely on the in- 

 crease in cultivated plants. Three such diseases arc of spe- 

 cial importance at present, owing to their rapid increase. 



