THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 175 



make a picking, the ripe ones are cut with stems 

 •about 2 inches and piled along roads laid out at 

 convenient distances through the fields. They are 

 thence loaded into wagons and taken to the car or 

 to the city market. 



" From $15 to $20 a hundred for large fruits are 

 the highest prices realized for melons at the car, 

 often the price drops to $8 or $6, and sometimes 

 the fruits cannot be sold. Twenty to 30 years ago 

 melon growing was an important industry in this 

 section, many farmers then growing from 5 to 20 

 acres each, and usually realizing from $50 to $100 

 an acre ; but competition with southern growers, 

 on cheap land, with cheap labor, and low freights, 

 has made the profits uncertain, and today very few 

 melons are grown here except for home use or local 

 trade." 



CARROTS 



Carrots are used both for table vegetables and 

 for flavoring soups and stews. They are of the 

 easiest culture. The seed is sown in rich, mellow 

 soil, preferably with a few radish seeds to mark the 

 rows and kept cleanly cultivated until they get a 

 good start. If sown as soon as the ground can be 

 worked, roots can be secured by the latter part of 

 May or early June. For the small early sorts 14 

 inches between the rows is sufficient, but for the 

 late, large-growing kinds 18 inches is preferable. 

 It is desirable, however, to use the small growing 

 kinds exclusively, because they are much more easy 

 to dig than the long ones. The plants are thinned 

 when about 4 inches tall to 4 or 6 inches apart. 

 Storing is the same as for turnips. Carrots are 

 often forced in hotbeds and cold frames for the 

 early market. They are as easily managed as 



