CULTURAL DIRECTIONS 367 



about four weeks old. In many other parts of the coun- 

 try, glass is used to a greater or less extent in forward- 

 ing the plants before it is safe to set them in the field. 



It is generally conceded that sowing should not occur 

 more than four weeks before setting in the field, because 

 of the danger of the plants becoming stunted in the 

 frames or the houses or receiving a check when taken to 

 the field. Some growers, however, keep them under 

 glass six weeks, which necessitates at least two shifts 

 in pots and a liberal amount of space. 



Paper or earthen pots, berry baskets and veneer boxes 

 are in general use. Some growers also plant on inverted 

 sods or in hills in flats, and block out the soil around the 

 plants with a sharp butcher knife when planting in the field. 



The Montreal melons are sown in any convenient seed 

 bed, and the young seedlings set in 3 or 4-inch pots, and 

 shifted to larger pots for the early crop, the seed for 

 which is sown earlier than when only one shift is made. 



The Indiana Experiment Station (Ind. Sta. Bui. 123, 

 p. 6) gives the following description of the method em- 

 ployed at Decker: "The beds are substantially built of 

 2x8 planking and are 9 feet wide and from 25 to 40 feet 

 long. Many of them hold 2,000 to 3,000 young plants, or 

 enough to set out nearly two acres. A single grower 

 frequently has a range of 30 to 40 of these hotbeds, en- 

 abling him to set from 50 to 75 acres of cantaloupes. The 

 beds are usually placed in a warm and sheltered situa- 

 tion, so as to get the full benefit of the early spring sun. 

 The seed is started during the last week of March or 

 the first of April in small veneer boxes. These are about 

 5 inches square and are similar to berry boxes, except 

 that the bottoms are flush instead of recessed. They are 

 placed side by side in the bottom of a hotbed and filled 

 with finely prepared earth and compost. Great care is 

 taken with the material for the seed bed, and it is very 

 thoroughly worked over before being used. 



