October, 1907 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



247 



For forty years I have been grow- 

 ing celery, but have never had a better 

 lot than was grown on this plot. The 

 stocks were ready for market on Sep- 

 tember 1. When planted in the 

 manner described, no boards are re- 

 quired for blanching. 



There was no sign of rust or blight. 

 I believe that the fertilizer, having 



been applied when the plants were 

 growing, kept them moving, and aided 

 them to grow away from the blight. 

 The variety was Simmers' Self-blanch- 

 ing. About 175,000 to 200,000 stalks 

 of celery can be grown per acre in this 

 way. Why, then, do we use so much 

 good land and so much manure in grow- 

 ing only about 25,000 of poor quality? 



[Note.— Mr. Rush kindly ^ent two 

 or three bunches of this celery to 

 The Canadian Horticulturist. They 

 were all large-sized and well blanched, 

 crisp in texture and excellent in qual- 

 ity. The illustration on page 246 

 gives some idea of their appearance. 

 They were a credit to Mr. Rush's skill as 

 a gardener. — Editor.] 



Ho^sv tKe Famous Montreal MusKmelons A.re Gro^wn 



THE muskmelon is usually regarded 

 as a southern crop. Only in re- 

 cent years has the great Rocky 

 Ford melon district divided honors with 

 Maryland and Georgia. New England 

 has been content to accept second or 

 third place, or to go without home-grown 

 melons altogether. Meanwhile, Mon- 

 treal has made a reputation in melon- 

 growing, which while not so much noised 

 in the newspapers, is something to be 

 fairly proud of. 



While we grow fewer muskmelons 

 than are grown in Rocky F'ord, Colorado, 

 we consider that we make up in quality, 

 to some extent at least, what we fall 

 short in quantity. Our first melons 

 go to market abrjut July 1, and bring 

 $12 a dozen wholesale. In other words, 

 we get more for a single melon than the 

 southern growers usually get for an 

 entire crate of thirty to forty-five. My 

 neighbor says he has sold $3,000 worth 

 of melons from three acres. It will be 

 seen, however, from the following state- 

 ment of our methods, that we put our- 

 selves to much greater expense than the 

 southern grower. 



Seeds are sown the end of March in a 

 hatbed, in four-inch pots, strawberry 

 boxes, or inverted sod, buried in the 

 earth in rows close together. Five melon 

 seeds are planted to each pot, or box, 

 and the seeds are buried about half an 

 inch deep. When the plants come 

 through the ground air is given by rais- 

 ing the sash when the sun shines during 

 the day, closing and covering it at night 

 to retain the heat and keep out the cold. 

 By the end of April, the plants should be 

 large enough to set out in the permanent 

 hotbeds. 



Any light soil, that will give a good 

 crop of corn or potatoes, should grow 

 melons. Trenches should be dug the 

 previous autumn eighteen inches deep 

 and thirty inches wide, and as long as 

 required for the number of hotbed 

 frames. The action of the frost through 

 the winter pulverizes the soil, and puts 

 it in good condition to receive the plants. 

 These trenches arc filled with hot manure 

 trampled down firmly to within four 

 inches of the surface, and covered with 

 about eight or nine inches of soil. In 

 growing melons on a large scale, \fe 



R. Brodie, 'Westmount, Quebec 



cover the manure with the plow, putting 

 in little posts to mark the centre of the 

 trench, making a ridge or bed about 

 eight feet wide (a foot broader than the 

 hotbed frame), raking this smoothly, 

 leaving a slight rise on the middle of the 

 ridge, and then putting on the hotbed 

 frame and sash. In a day's time the 

 soil should be warm enough to receive 

 the plants from the nursery hotbed. 

 They are watered freely, so that they 

 may come easily from the pot. (I prefer 

 the berry boxes, as they cost less and can 

 be easily broken away from the roots.) 

 One pot containing four stout plants is 

 put to each Sash. They are watered 

 after planting and shaded with boards 

 or matting for a few days, till the plants 

 take root. Shallow cultivation is prac- 

 tised, for the roots extend near the 

 surface as far as the vines above ground . 

 About the beginning of July, when 

 the vines have filled up the frames and 

 little melons appear the size of acocoanut, 

 the glass and frames should be removed, 

 doing this gradually to harden up the 

 plants. As soon as a good crop of fruit 

 is formed, the end of the vines should be 

 nipped off and all the growth sent into 



the melons. Some varieties, like the 

 Hackensack, produce far too much vine 

 and too few melons under this system of 

 growing. One of the strong points in 

 favor of the Montreal muskmelon is its 

 productiveness, as well as good quality. 



The melons should be turned every 

 few days, care being taken not to injure 

 the vine. Some growers, as soon as the 

 melons are well netted, do purposely 

 give the stem a twist to hasten ripening, 

 spoiling the quality for the sake of having 

 them earlier. When they are nearly 

 full grown, pieces of wood or shingle 

 should be put under each one to prevent 

 rot and to keep the worms from them. 



Sometimes good melons are grown by 

 a somewhat simpler method. Holes are 

 dug about one foot deep and eighteen 

 inches in diameter, and these are filled 

 with warm manure, which is well tram- 

 pled down. Each hill is then covered 

 with eight inches of soil, and is set with 

 plants from the nursery hotbed. These 

 hills are shaded for a few days with a 

 box or something of the sort. Such 

 melons ripen in September, but there is 

 not the demand for them in the markets 

 thatthere isduring the sultry daysof July. 



Forcing' Lettuce Under Glass 



Eugene Davis, Grand Rapids, MicKi^an 



THE soil mostly used in this sec- 

 tion is a fine, light sand, finely 

 manured. It gives good drainage, 

 and never gets hard. Use the best 

 seed .obtainable. It should, be % water- 

 cleaned, which gives a plump, heavy- 

 seed, and a more uniform crop. Ven- 

 tilation should be given at all times 

 when weather permits, but it is not well 

 to let cold winds blow directly on the 

 plant. Watering requires considerable 

 judgment, especially during dull, cloudy 

 weather. It is better to water in bright, 

 clear weather and in the forenoon, if 

 possible, so th it the plants will dry 

 off by night. Always water thoroughly 

 when needed. Lettuce needs water 

 when the soil taken in the hand will 

 not pack but crumble. 



For aphis or green fly, fumigate 

 twice a week with tobacco stems, or 



use tobacco dust sprinkled on plants 

 and ground. Use after each watering 

 until the plants are one-third grown; 

 if put on full-grown plants, it is difii- 

 cult to wash off. . It is better also not 

 to fumigate when the crop is nearly 

 ready lO sell, as it will smell and taste 

 of the tobacco. We carry a night 

 temperature of forty-five to fifty de- 

 grees; day, sixty to seventy-five. Have 

 a self - registering thermometer and 

 thermostat with electric bell in the 

 dwelling-house; it pays, as some fire- 

 men are careless about keeping an even 

 temperature at night. 



We get better results in starting 

 the seed bed under glass even in August, 

 when seed is sown for first crop. The 

 plants are not so apt to get brown 

 rooted or rusty, with which there has 

 been verv much trouble here in the 



