11 



. One point in respect to spraying the writer has never seen 

 mentioned in print, namely, its tendency to very sHghtly 

 reduce the yield in the first of the season. The increase, 

 however, in the latter part more than compensates for this 

 early loss. The reason is that the covering of Bordeaux 

 shades the leaf which requires sunlight, though this same 

 effect seems to benefit potatoes, whose growth appears to 

 be promoted by the shading. 



Bees. 

 The writer considers a sw^arm or two of bees in the vicinity 

 of the melon piece an advantage in pollenizing the blossoms. 

 They tend to help the vines to make a larger setting of 

 fruit, and to a more perfect condition of the melons. 



Varieties. 



This is a subject upon which much advice is offered, but 

 its value is doubtful. No one can tell the prospective grower 

 the variety that is best for him. The writer, living in the 

 Connecticut valley, recommended certain tried varieties to 

 a farmer in eastern Massachusetts, who proceeded to make 

 a complete failure with them, but he went further and made 

 just as complete a success with those that had not done well 

 with us. 



A person buying a very nice Rocky Ford cantaloupe will 

 plant the seed because he reasons that Hke produces like, 

 forgetting that the conditions have as much as the seed to 

 do with the outcome. "That Rocky Ford melon was good, 

 wasn't it?" "Yes." "Then why can't I grow one just hke 

 it?" "You can — in Colorado." Seed that produced a fine 

 melon in the dry atmosphere and constant sunshine of a 

 •Colorado summer will often mold and develop deficient 

 flavor in our more humid air. There will be exceptional 

 cases, but that simply means that the grower happened to 

 strike something that fitted his special conditions. 



One great lesson that the eastern grower needs to learn is 

 that the seed should be acclimated. Why is it that certain 

 growers have won a great reputation for their product? 

 They have adapted a melon to their soil. 



