174 MAKING HORTICULTURE PAY 



rows 8x8 feet. The dropper follows the marker, 

 dropping eight to ten seeds in each hill, being care- 

 ful to put part of the seed on the side of the mark, 

 so that when covered with a hoe some of the seed 

 will have one-half inch of soil and others from I 

 to iy 2 inches. The lighter covering will be best 

 for wet covering and the deeper for dry. The first 

 planting is made about April 25 and additional 

 plantings about ten days apart until danger of frost 

 is over and a full stand is secured. 



" When the young plants come up they are 

 dusted with a mixture of air-slaked lime, plaster, 

 and tobacco dust, to keep off the striped beetle. 

 This application is repeated every few days until 

 the plants have rough leaves. Bordeaux mixture 

 is considered a sure preventive for fleas. At least 

 once each week the plants are cultivated with a 

 horse hoe or riding cultivator, and when they come 

 in rough leaf are hoed and thinned to three or four 

 plants in the hills. When they start to vine only 

 one plant is left in each hill. The last cultivation 

 is given just before the vines meet, turning the 

 vines in each alternate middle, harrowing and then 

 turning them back, harrowing remaining middles, 

 then laying the vines out carefully by hand. 

 Usually clover seed is sown just previous to this 

 last cultivation. 



" The varieties popular in this section are Dark 

 Icing, doubtless the best melon for home use, but 

 too tender and sweet for market purposes, and 

 Kleckley Sweet, one of the new very sweet ones. 

 For market purposes, a melon that will not bruise 

 in handling and will cut solid slices, tough enough 

 to stand up and look nice on the table, is in demand. 

 Dixie, Sweetheart, Pride of Georgia, answer these 

 requirements. When sufficient melons are ripe to 



