VEGETABLES MELON. 225 



pinching the main vine, so as to encourage the lateral 

 shoots upon which the fruit is borne. A large grower in 

 the vicinity of Hackensack, New Jereey, a noted locality 

 in this respect, gives the following details of the culture : 



Melons are a special crop which needs particular 

 care and culture. In some localities they are grown for 

 market in great quantities. It is said that, on one 

 evening in 1885, 160 two-horse wagon loads, each of 

 about 1,000 Melons, crossed by one ferry from a suburb 

 of New York City. And this was by no means an extra 

 occasion. The Melon season lasts from July into Octo- 

 ber, so that some idea may be gained from this of the 

 magnitude of this business. The crop is a very profit- 

 able one when skilfully cultivated, and often realizes 

 $500 to $1,000 an acre, and more rarely even as high as 

 $1,500, when the Melons are the first in the market and 

 bring the highest price of the season. But as with other 

 products, these large profits are only realized by those 

 growers whose long experience and skill give them more 

 than usual advantages. The methods, however, are no 

 secret, and any one who will follow them may just as 

 easily meet with the same success. 



The most suitable soil for Melons is a rich, warm, 

 deep, sandy loam, having a southern or southwestern 

 exposure. The latter is prefera&e, as it gets the last 

 rays of the sun and the soil is thus warmed up for the 

 night, and, being sheltered from eastern and northern 

 winds, retains this warmth until the morning. This 

 may make several days' difference in the ripening of the 

 crop, which may be equivalent to $300 or $400 an acre 

 in the value of the fruit. The manner of culture is 

 as follows : The soil is plowed in the fall or early in the 

 spring and is cross-plowed the first days of May, about 

 twenty loads per acre of manure being plowed under, in 

 addition to the special manuring for each hill. The 

 ground is then well harrowed and furrowed out six feet 



