348 VEGETABLE FORCING 
Favorite, Hero of Lockinge and Buscot Park Hero. All 
of these varieties are recommended by Turner of New 
Jersey, who has had extended experience in forcing 
melons. Other varieties recommended by growers are 
Blenheim Orange, Rocky Ford and Paul Rose. 
The utmost care should be exercised in procuring good 
seed. Some of the seedsmen, especially in England, 
make a specialty of producing pure strains of the leading 
varieties. Melons mix very readily in the greenhouse 
where two or more varieties are growing. If bees are 
flying from flower to flower, mixing is almost certain to, 
occur, and it is unlikely that the seed from such crosses 
would produce satisfactory fruits. If only one variety is 
used and bees are not entering the houses from outside 
plantations, there is no reason why one should not save 
seed from plants which are giving the best results. 
Starting plants.—Melons are started in the same way 
as cucumber plants. See page 308. Seed may be sown in 
pots, shifts being made as explained for the cucumber on 
page 310, or they may be sown in beds or flats and the 
seedlings pricked into pots or perhaps into beds, as 
shown in Fig. 109. Whatever the method, the growth of 
the plants must not be checked at any time, for such 
plants never recover and produce good crops. The 
night temperature should be from 70 to 75 degrees and 
the day temperature in bright weather 10 to 15 degrees 
higher. 
Seed should be sown not later than September 1 if fruit 
is wanted for Christmas. December 15 is a satisfactory 
time to sow for spring harvesting and later sowings will 
produce early summer melons. 
Soil—While many of the finest field melons are pro- 
duced on sandy soils, fairly heavy types of soil seem to 
give the best results in the forcing of this vegetable. 
Some of the best yields have been obtained in clay soils, 
though a moderate amount of sand mav be an advantage. 
