1484. Tue Veceranbie Inpustry In New Yorx State 
last few years. The quality is very good and it stands shipping 
well, but the vines seem rather weak and sometimes fail to mature 
the later settings of fruit. This fact may force us to return to the 
Dixie, although a little coarser in flesh and less regular in shape. 
Care in the selection of seed is of more importance than variety. 
Seed selected from the best specimens of the home patch is 
superior to that secured by cutting the entire crop as the com- 
mercial seedsman must do. 
PREPARATION OF SOIL 
The preparation of the soil should be thorough, and an abund- 
ance of humus and plant food are essentials. Stable manure, 
broadcasted and plowed in, is valuable when available, but in our 
own practice we depend upon green manure for the humus, and 
chemicals for the additional plant food. The ground should be 
plowed early so that the vegetable matter is somewhat decom- 
posed and thoroughly mixed with the soil. If sod land, fall plow- 
ing and early working in the spring will give a looser soil for 
planting. The better the preparation, the better and more easily 
will the cultivation of the small plants be accomplished. 
Before the expected time of planting, 150 pounds of muriate 
of potash and 450 pounds of acid phosphate per acre are broad- 
casted and harrowed in. Two hundred and fifty pounds of tank- 
age or other fertilizer containing 20 pounds of organic nitrogen in 
good form, is placed in drills running east and west across the 
field. Good ridges are thrown up and cross marked — four feet 
for canteloupes and ten feet for watermelons. 
When the first runners are about twelve inches long, 100 
pounds of nitrate of soda and 100 pounds of tankage are ap- 
plied and worked in. The material must not be allowed to come 
in contact with the vines. This application furnishes an abund- 
ance of plant food at the time the fruit is making its most rapid 
growth, and adds to the quality of the product. 
PLANTING 
Melons may be started in plant boxes in cold frames and trans- 
‘planted to the open ground when four or five rough leaves have 
been made. 
