MELON RUST 229 



While excessive rainfall is unfavorable to the proper growth 

 and development of muskmelons, and comparatively dry weather 

 at the time of maturity is considered essential to the production 

 of melons of the highest quality, yet muskmelons will not with- 

 stand as much drought as watermelons. Extremely dry weather 

 associated with excessively high temperatures, especially if these 

 conditions obtain before the melons are netted and continue for 

 a considerable time, will sometimes cause the melons to ripen 

 prematurely without properly netting and to be of little commercial 

 value. In an unirrigated region, little can be done to help the crop 

 under such conditions, though the influence of an ordinary drought 

 can be largely overcome by continuing tillage until late in the 

 season, as already suggested. 



Melon Rust. — After the muskmelon crop has escaped the 

 ravages of the mice, beetles and lice, and the melons are almost 

 ready to harvest, a fungous disease known as the '' rust " is likely 

 to cause the foliage to collapse and the melons to ripen prematurely 

 without a proper development of netting or flavor. This disease 

 appears first as small, circular, brown spots on the leaves. The 

 spots gradually increase in size and number until finally they run 

 together and the entire leaf becomes brown and dead. The oldest 

 leaves, at the center of the hill, are the first to be attacked, and 

 the infection gradually spreads outward until all the foliage is 

 involved (Fig. 136). If the leaves die before the melons ripen, 

 the fruits do not develop normally and are decidedly deficient in 

 both netting and flavor. 



Repeated tests show that the rust can be controlled to some 

 extent by thorough and persistent spraying with Bordeaux mix- 

 ture. A dilute mixture is used, consisting of two pounds of copper 

 sulfate and four pounds of lime to fifty gallons of water. Spraying 

 should begin soon after the vines have set their earliest fruits, 

 and should be repeated at intervals of one week until the harvest 

 is well under way. This treatment will not prevent the appearance 

 of the rust, and in many cases will not prevent even the ultimate 

 destruction of the fohage, but it retards the development of 

 the disease and keeps the leaves green for a longer time than 

 would otherwise be the case (Fig. 137). This enables the 

 melons to develop normally and acquire the requisite netting 

 and flavor. 



The cheapest way to do the spraying is to train the vines 

 lengthwise of the row, as already suggested for facilitating late 



