MUSTAED — MUSKMELON 487 



should be removed just as soon as the young mushrooms begin to appear 

 above ground. If the atmosphere is dry^ the pathways and walls 

 should be sprinkled with water. The mulching should also be sprinkled, 

 but not enough to cause the water to soak into the bed. However, if 

 the bed should get dry, do not hesitate to water it. 



Mustard. — Almost all the mustards are good for greens, though 

 white mustard is usually best. Chinese mustard is also valuable. 



Seed should be sown in drills, 3 to Zh feet apart, and covered with a 

 half inch of soil. The ease with which they may be grown, and the 

 abundance of herbage which they yield, mark their special utility. 

 Sow very early for spring greens, and in late summer or early Septem- 

 ber for fall greens. 



Muskmelon. — The most delicious of all garden vegetables eaten from 

 the hand, and of simple cultivation; but like many another plant that 

 is easy to grow it often fails completely. The season and soil must 

 be warm and the growth continuous. 



The natural soil for melons is a light, sandy loam, well enriched with 

 rotted manure, although good crops may be grown on land naturally 

 heavy if the hills are specially prepared. When only heavy soil is 

 available, the earth where the seeds are to be planted should be thor- 

 oughly pulverized and mixed with fine, well-rotted manure. A sprink- 

 ling of leafmold or chip-dirt will help to lighten it. On this hill from 

 ten to fifteen seeds may be sown, thinning to four or five vines when 

 danger of inserts is over. 



The season may be advanced and the damage from insects lessened 

 by starting the plants in hotbeds. This may be done by using fresh 

 sod, cut into 6-inch pieces, placing them grass-side down in the hotbed, 

 sowing eight to ten seeds on each piece, and covering with 2 inches of 

 light soil. When all danger of frost is over, and the ground has become 

 warm, these sods may be carefully lifted and set in the prepared hills. 

 The plants usually grow without check, and fruit from two to four weeks 

 ahead of those from seed planted directly in the hill. Old quart berry- 

 boxes are excellent to plant seeds in, as, when they are set in the ground, 

 they very quickly decay, causing no restriction to the roots. 



Netted Gem, Hackensack, Emerald Gem, Montreal, Osage, and the 



