LEADING VEGETABLE CROPS 339 



the Dutch varieties. They are more frequently 

 sown in drills and given some cultivation in order 

 to keep down the weeds during the longer season 

 required for growth. They are much richer in food 

 value than the white turnips and are becoming more 

 popular and in greater demand in many markets. 



The club root and cabbage root maggot, common 

 diseases of the cabbage, are frequently very destruc- 

 tive to the turnip. Rotation of crops is the only 

 practical method of control. Turnips should never 

 be planted after other cruciferous crops. 



WATERMELON 



In many respects the watermelon is the most im- 

 portant plant of the cucumber family cultivated in 

 America. It is an important commercial crop in 

 practically all the southern states and may be grown 

 successfully in a limited way in every state of the 

 Union. Georgia and Texas lead all others in the 

 production of this crop. The use of the water- 

 melon is confined almost entirely to human con- 

 sumption, and has no by-products. The water- 

 melon thrives best in the long seasons of the South, 

 where the days and nights are hot and where frost 

 seldom interferes with its development from the time 

 the young plants are through the ground until the 

 fruit is harvested. The watermelon is more sen- 

 sitive to cold than any other member of the cucum- 

 ber family. 



A sandy soil Is everywhere considered the ideal 

 one, although the well-drained, alluvial river 

 bottom lands are extensively planted. In the 

 preparation of the soil it should be plowed to a 

 medium depth early in the season and frequently 

 stirred until planting time. It is hardly possible 



