PEANUTS AND WATERMELONS 



167 



Do not plant watermelons for more than one year on or 

 near the same field. A very fatal disease, watermelon wilt, 

 is especially liable to attack watermelons planted on land 

 on which the same crop has recently grown. Where this 

 disease occurs, it may be necessary to fertilize only with 

 wood mold and commercial fertilizers, omitting the manure. 

 This is because manure frequently contains and carries 

 the germs of the disease. Wilt-resistant varieties of water- 

 melons are now being perfected. 



EXERCISE. When peanuts begin next season to form nuts, examine 

 them carefully and find the flower, the pistil, and the seed. Notice the 

 position of the leaves of peanuts at night. Are there tubercles on the 

 roots of peanuts ? Are they as large as those on the roots of cowpeas ? 

 Is any of the soil from the field where peanuts last grew brought to the 

 new peanut field ? 



When watermelons bloom, notice the difference between the pistillate 

 and the staminate flowers. 



FIG. 109. PEANUTS OR GOOBERS DRYING IN SHOCKS 



