STARTING THE PLANTS 37 



use plenty of seeds so as to insure a good stand. 

 The cost of seed is a small item when compared 

 with the loss in time in replanting and the conse- 

 quent unevenness in the time of ripening of the 

 crop. The number of seeds used will depend some- 

 what upon the results obtained from the tests for 

 germination which have been made previously, but, 

 generally speaking, from two to four times as many 

 seeds are planted as are expected to remain for the 

 crop. Then, after the plants are well up, the weaker 

 ones are thinned out, so that not more than two or 

 three plants remain. It will require from two to 

 three pounds of muskmelon and four to five pounds 

 of watermelon seed to an acre. 



Starting in Hotbeds. Our more northern grow- 

 ers, especially those in the upper Mississippi valley, 

 use the hotbed and cold frame very generally for 

 starting the muskmelon, and some use them for 

 starting the watermelons as well, although the lat- 

 ter are generally planted in the open ground. This 

 enables them to gain from one to two weeks in time 

 of ripening. "These beds (Fig. 7) are substantially 

 built of 2 x 8 planking and are 9 feet wide and from 

 25 to 40 feet long, many of them holding from 

 2,000 to 3,000 plants, or enough to plant nearly two 

 acres. A single grower sometimes has a range of 

 30 to 40 of these beds, enabling him to set from 50 

 to 75 acres of cantaloupes. The beds are usually 

 placed in a warm and sheltered location so as to get 

 the benefit of the early spring sun. The seed is 

 started in this latitude during the last week in 

 March or the first week in April in small veneer 

 boxes. These are about 5 inches square, and are 

 similar to berry boxes, except the bottoms are flush 



