Market-Garden Crops 299 



This is undoubtedly an excellent mixture which may be 

 used with safety in almost any quantity. The usual 

 practice is to use from 1000 to 1200 pounds to the acre. 

 Many farmers claim that the sulfate of ammonia causes 

 some injury to the tomato and prefer to double the quan- 

 tities of blood and fish used. Whether there is any 

 ground for this claim has never been definitely deter- 

 mined, but it is known that sulfate of ammonia leaves a 

 large residue of acid in the soil. 



VINE CROPS 



Cucumbers, watermelons (see Fig. 29, Plate XIV), musk- 

 melons, pumpkins and squashes belong to one botanical 

 group of plants, and are usually adapted for similar 

 climatic and soil conditions, though watermelons and 

 muskmelons of good quality are successfully grown only 

 upon light, warm, sandy soils. The pumpkins, cucum- 

 bers and squashes may be readily grown to perfection 

 upon the colder and more compact clayey soils. All 

 of these crops require an abundance of vegetable matter 

 in the soil, in order to make their best growth. Hence, 

 upon soils deficient in this respect, manures should 

 be applied which are rich in vegetable matter. Com- 

 posts in the hill have proved of especial advantage, 

 as they seem to encourage an immediate feeding, and 

 prevent delay in early growth. In the best growth of 

 these plants it is also necessary that the mineral ele- 

 ments shall be available, and that the nitrogen shall be 

 of such a character as to encourage a continuous rather 

 than a quick growth of vine. That is, unless the quick- 

 acting nitrates are applied very frequently, they are less 

 desirable than organic forms of nitrogen. Hence, with the 



