VEGETABLES DESCRIPTION AND CULTURE. 249 



the oldest to be had, and take great care to get that which 

 is perfectly pure, for the seed of melons raised in proxim- 

 ity to gourds, cucumbers, pumpkins, etc., will produce 

 new varieties, destitute of flavor. All plants of this fam- 

 ily are exceedingly liable to intermix, to their great 

 detriment. They will deteriorate, if planted within one 

 hundred feet of each other. 



Plant in the open ground when the frosts are over, a 

 little later than the general corn crop is planted. In sec- 

 tions where the seasons are too short for it the melon is 

 planted in pots in a hot-bed, and the maturity of the crop 

 may be hastened every where in this way. When the 

 ground is warm, the balls are taken from the pots, and 

 set where they are to remain, protecting them with sun- 

 shades a little at first, or with hand-glasses, if cold. Have 

 about three plants to each pot. In the open ground, plant 

 in hills six feet apart, and ten seeds to a hill, an inch deep. 

 Thin to three, and finally two, in a hill. Make the hills as 

 for cucumbers. Superphosphate of lime has an almost 

 magical effect in improving the size and hastening the 

 maturity of the melon. The insects are the same as 

 attack the cucumber, and a little guano sprinkled around 

 the hill, not too near the plants, and intermingled with the 

 surface soil, will also by its pungent smell drive off the 

 bug and flea, and also prove a very valuable fertilizer of 

 the plants. Watering with guano water for the same 

 purpose is very beneficial. Until the vines touch, keep 

 the ground about them fresh dug, mellow, and free from 

 weeds. When the vines begin to run, and show the first 

 blossom, they must be stopped by pinching off the ex- 

 treme bud, as in the cucumber. This will render them 

 earlier and more prolific in large fruit. Their whole 

 culture is like that of the cucumber, and they may be 

 forced in the same manner. In sections where the melon 

 worm destroys the later grown fruits, get them into bear- 

 ing as early as may be. This is a green worm, the prog- 

 11* 



