180 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



seed, because such condition not only insures their early 

 germination, but makes the plant food more available. 

 Depth of planting should be determined somewhat by the 

 condition of the soil, a light, dry soil and dry weather re- 

 quiring deeper planting. If planted too deep they are slow 

 in coming, and reach the surface in weakened condition; if 

 too shallow, the seed will dry up. Perhaps 13^ inches is a 

 fair depth for average conditions. Seed should be used liber- 

 ally to allow for losses from insects. 



Hills are generally placed 6 by 6 or 6 by 4 feet. Thin to 

 two plants when cutworms and bugs are gone. Some seed 

 in drills with a seed sower, thinning later to single plants 

 1 or 2 feet apart. Before the plants come up the soil some- 

 times gets baked on the surface of the hill, and needs to be 

 loosened by the fingers, or by passing a garden rake Hghtly 

 over it with a lifting motion. 



The critical period in the entire life of the melon plant is 

 the first fortnight after it comes up. It is the start of the 

 race, and everything depends on the plant getting away 

 without a handicap, for a cantaloupe vine never recovers 

 from a setback. 



To understand the importance of care at this stage it 

 is necessary to notice the structure of the plant. Pull one 

 up and you will see that you have the two-seed leaves with 

 a tuft between where the true leaves are waiting to come 

 out, while below the surface there is nothing but the stem 

 tapering into one long, stringy root running straight down 

 into the ground. Now keep this state of the plant in mind 

 while you notice that for days all the plants in the hill seem 

 at a standstill. What are they waiting for? Simply for 

 their mouths! Pull up another plant now and you will see 

 roots putting out laterally on all sides of the taproot. These 

 are the feeders, and as they push out into your finely pre- 

 pared soil on every hand watch the plants spring forward 

 into life and growth; the first true leaf unfolds in a day. 

 The vine is off with a rapid growth that must never be 

 checked for a moment till its work is done. 



But here is the important point. At this stage the plant 

 needs a nurse. Nothing in these first few days must be al- 

 lowed to trouble it, — neither the striped beetle that would 



