226 GARDENING FOR PROFIT. 



apart each way. A good shovelful of mixed fine manure 

 and night soil, together with a small handful of guano, 

 is used in each hill, being mixed with the soil, for nine 

 inches deep and twenty-four inches wide ; six or eight 

 seeds are planted in each hill. The first planting is 

 early in May ; other plantings may be continued through 

 June. The hill is raised two or three inches above the 

 surface, and is made about two feet broad and quite flat. 

 When the plants appear above the surface they require 

 protection from cut worms, which would otherwise cut 

 the stems and destroy them ; and as the rough leaves 

 appear, the weaker plants are thinned out and only three 

 left. A good method of protecting the plants against 

 the cut worms is to make a ring of thick paper, about a 

 foot in diameter and three inches broad, and place this 

 around them, so as to form an obstacle over which they 

 cannot climb. The after cultivation consists of deep 

 plowing at intervals, at least twice, and frequent cultiva- 

 tion, until the vines begin to run, when the terminal 

 buds are pinched off to cause the growth of the lateral 

 branches. The main vine produces chiefly male or bar- 

 ren flowers, and if this is left to run, the laterals would 

 not push out and there would be little or no fruit. The 

 lateral shoots bear the female or perfect flowers, and to 

 encourage the growth of these, is one of the secrets of 

 Melon culture upon which the profits depend. The same 

 peculiarity of growth is found in all the gourd tribe, and 

 applies to Squashes, Cucumbers and Water Melons, as well 

 as to Musk Melons, careful attention to which, other 

 things being right, makes success certain. 



The pests of the Melon are lice, the striped beetle, and 

 the squash bug. The lice appear on the under side of 

 the leaves and are difficult to get at, so that the simplest 

 and most effective remedy is to pinch off the affected 

 leaves or the part of the vine and carry it away and burn 

 it. If left undisturbed, the lice from one hill will quickly 



