FERTILIZERS FOR MELONS 33 



crops now under discussion : " All of these crops 

 seem to require an abundance of vegetable matter 

 in the soil in order to make their first growth 

 Hence, upon soils deficient in this respect, manures 

 should be applied which are rich in vegetable mat- 

 ter. Composts in the hill have proved of special 

 advantage, as they seem to encourage an immediate 

 feeding and prevent delay in early growth. In the 

 best growth of the plants it is also necessary that 

 the mineral elements shall be available and that 

 the nitrogen shall be of such character as to en- 

 courage a continuous, rather than a quick growth 

 of vine; that is, unless the quickening nitrates are 

 applied frequently, they are less desirable than 

 organic forms of nitrogen. Hence, with the usual 

 broadcast application of the basic mixture at the 

 time of planting, together with a compost in the hill, 

 further application of organic nitrogen should be 

 made, its character to be such as to promise a rela- 

 tively rapid change into nitrate. The basic mix- 

 ture may be reinforced by any one of the following 

 materials: 200 to 300 pounds per acre of cottonseed 

 meal, 100 to 200 pounds per acre of dried blood, or 

 300 to 400 pounds of fine ground tankage. Any 

 organic substance whose greater part will decay in 

 one season will generally give better results than 

 the nitrate, unless the latter is applied in frequent 

 small top-dressings, because organic forms of nitro- 

 gen provide for a continuous growth of vine and 

 fruit, while too great an abundance of immediately 

 available nitrogen as nitrate is liable to cause too 

 rapid and large growth of fruit of poor quality." 



It is a common practice in the middle West to plow 

 the land quite deeply eight or nine inches as early 



