MUSKMELON. 



for there will almost certainly be accidents and black 

 aphis, and mildew, and damping-off. When the plants 

 have stood in the benches two or three weeks, the weak 

 ones may be pulled out. It is a good practice, when 

 but a single row is planted, to set the plants nearer one 

 side than the other, and then leave the wider side of 

 the bench empty, and add the soil to it as the plants 

 need it. In this way fresh forage is obtained for the 

 roots in soil which has not been leached of its plant 

 food nor impaired in its mechanical condition ; and the 

 plants will make a steady growth from start to finish, 

 rather than an over-vigorous one at first. If there is 

 too much soil, the roots spread through it quickly and 

 the plants run at once to vine. 



Sowing and transplanting. The seeds should be 

 sown in pots. We like to place a single seed in a 2- 



inch pot, and in 

 about three weeks 

 if in summer or fall 

 to transplant the 

 seedling into a 4-inch 

 pot. In two or three 

 weeks more the plant 

 may be set perma- 

 nently in the bench 

 at the distances indi- 

 cated in the above 

 paragraph. It is a 

 most excellent plan 

 (as explained for cu- 

 cumbers) to fill the 

 pots only half full of 

 earth or compost at 

 first, and then fill the 

 pot up as soon as the plant overtops the rim. The 

 record of one of our crops is as follows: Seeds sown 

 August 4; repotted August 30; transplanted to bench 



72. Melon plant (in 4-inch pot) in fit co 

 dition for transplanting into bench. 



