126 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



than when put into the house, but their quality was good. They 

 were kept in a good house where the grower paid considerable attention 

 to heat and ventilation. Selling squashes by weight is the best way 

 for the farmer early in the season, and by the barrel the best for him 

 late in the season, for they lose much in weight during the winter. 



MUSKMELONS. 



Muskmelons are a crop most easily grown, and quite profitable and 

 satisfactory when certain methods are carefully followed. Good 

 standard varieties are Emerald Gem, Early Hackcnsack and Montreal 

 Nutmeg. The soil for melons should be a sandy loam. The hills 

 should be 4 by 6 feet apart, with several seeds in the hill, i)lanted as 

 soon as possible after May 10. A crop may be secured if planted as 

 late as June 15. The liills are prepared by digging in a large forkful 

 of manure and a large handful of fertilizer. The plants will be up 

 in a week to ten days, and will need protection from the black flea 

 beetle, striped beetle and cut worm. Be even more careful to watch 

 for these pests on melons than on squashes, as melons are more tender 

 and more easily destroyed. 



The cultivation of the crop consists of one hand hoeing as soon as 

 the plants are up, then horse cultivation until the vines begin to cover 

 the ground, and finally another careful hand hoeing. After the vines 

 nearly cover the ground they should not be disturbed by cultiva- 

 tion, but large weeds may be pulled by hand. The melon vine does 

 not do well if moved after once spread for a crop. 



If it does well, the crop should begin to come off by the middle of 

 August and continue for two weeks. Melons should be picked every 

 day, and when maturing very fast twice a day, taking only those 

 which are ripe. Pack the melons in boxes or baskets, making two or 

 three grades, and work up a trade on what you have. Good melons 

 will bring from SI. 50 to $2.50 a box of IS by 24 inches. A good crop 

 will give five or more first-class melons from each hill. Some melons 

 mature very quickly. The Emerald Gem is one of these, and it seldom 

 fails to mature its crop before the time of the August blight. This 

 variety has never been troubled much with the blight, and has always 

 been satisfactory in quality and a good money maker when grown 

 under glass or in the open. 



To grow melons under glass on raised benches set the plants one in 

 a place, a foot apart, on the back side of the bench. Remove all the 

 soil from the front part of the bench. Train the vines to a single 

 stem and allow only three melons to set on a vine. Support these 

 three with netting of some kind, cloth or wire, and you will probably 

 , get the most perfect fruit you ever saw or tasted. 



A crop of melons may be started in a bed, and when the vines begin 

 to cover the ground the sashes removed and the vines allowed their 

 own way. This crop is usually prolific, and will average more than 

 five melons to the hill. 



