MrSTlKoOM 



.mi;sk.mi:lon 



1049 



the price, accorditig: to demaiul and j-npi-lv. Tlio Ws\ 

 si-asou for the cousuinptiou vt M uslin.nms is ih.- lair 

 full and winter months, as thrv kcu|. in the cool, drv 

 weather for several days, antl'sniall dL-akn-.s havt- in< 

 trouble with them spoilini^ on their hands. The priv.- 

 during: these months varies aoeurdiny; to supply and 

 demand. In the summer mouths a few will do well, hnt 

 they spoil so n-adily in the heat that dealers <lo not care 

 to handle any stock; therefore, if there were a lari^^e 

 supply from June until October they would surely go 

 to waste. The i^rowers trenerally take advantau:^ of'this 

 and renew their beds in summer. ;ind prepare for the 

 comins: season. One trrrat mistake is that the small 

 grower is too anxious to reach the consumer. He wants 

 to save the little which tlie middleman or distributer jtjets. 

 and he gives them to the retailer, to restaurants, or tn 

 others, and these persons often take advantage of him. 

 He is sometimes compelled to take from 2o to ~ii) \u_-r 

 cent less than nuirket price, and he injures tlip nmrker 

 as well. All classes now buy Mushrooms. If the sup- 

 ply is scarce and price hijjh, they go only to the better 

 class of hotels and restaurants; but as the price gradu- 

 ally decreases the consumption increases and the poorer 

 grade of hotels and restaurants and families consunn' 

 tliem. The consumption of canned and dried Mush- 

 rooms is not increasing as rapidly as that of the fresli- 

 growm, and we are led to believe that in the near futnn- 

 our home-grown Mushrooms will be canned ami dried as 

 the foreign are; in fact, some of the canners are now- 

 making ketchup of the seconds and poorer tcrades. We 

 believe that the consumption can be doubled and pos- 

 sibly trebled at a good profit if sold at half the present 

 prices. We expect to hear before long of some IioUsh 

 that \vill make a specialty of jNIushrooms and sell noth- 

 i"t^ tdse. Ak^'Hdea.on A: Co. 



MUSK. The common JIusk Plant of the gardens is 

 Jfiiindus inoschnfus, an American plant. The wild 

 .Musk Plant of Europe, however, \s L'roih'um wosrhafnui. 



rriid.-r, s.ifr and li;rlit ^^-eeTi when put in the ti. 1<1 will 

 n<'arly always suller. evm tiiough the wearhrr is i.oi 

 eold thereafter, hi Inttbeds the plants are nearer tin- 

 i.dass, and the sash ]nay Ite stripped entirely on all fair 

 days, tliereby allowing the plants to become graduall\ 

 inured to tield conditions. Melons transplant with dilli- 

 culty ; therefore they are always grown on jiieces of in- 

 verted sods or in some temporary receptacle. Some 

 growers employ pint and quart berry-baskets, such as 

 are used for raspl)erries and strawlierries. Otliers use 

 a liasket-splint which is about M.^a in. ^vide and 1-1 in. 

 huig, and which is cut in a basket machine at snrb di> 

 tances that wli^n the splint is bent it will make a four- 

 cornered receptacle like a berry-box witliout top or 

 bottom. The ends of this splint are held together by a 

 single small tack. These forms may he packed together 

 tightly in the hotbed an<l tilled willi earth and two or 

 tliree seeds planted iu each. When the plants have 

 ac([uired two or three rough leaves, they are ready to In- 

 placed in the field. The forms can be taken from the 

 hotbed by miming a spade or shingle underneath them. 

 AVith the tiiigers. The box is jtulled ajiartand the cubical 

 mass of earlli is dropped into the hole made tor it, and 

 the plant receives no check. There is so much loss 

 fnnn tlu^ depredations of the striped beetle and the Hea- 

 beetle that one must provide several times more plants 

 than the area requires. The hills of melons are usually 

 fritm 4 to 6 ft. apart either way, atid two or three plants 

 are sutlicient fiu* a hill; it is advisable, however, to 

 place at least half a dozeu jdaiils in each hill if the iti- 

 sects are troublesome. It is an excellent plan to plant 

 squashes in the tield before the melons are transplanted 

 and to gather the insects from them for a week or two. 

 Spraying the plants with Borde-mx mixture will lejiel 

 ilie insects to some extent. Dusting with tobacco dust 

 or snulif will also prove more or less efficieut. Land 

 jdaster in which there is a little kerosene or turpentine 

 is also repellent. The inserts are killed by Paris green, 

 but lieeause of llie hairv nature of the melon leaf it is 



MUSK HYACINTH. or 



(irape Hyacinth ^^ Musvnri 

 iiioschatu)n . 



MUSK MALL0W = 2r;7)/,s- 



cHs 1/10 sell a {us-. The Musk 

 seed of commerce is also ITi- 

 hisriis moschatus. Marsh M. 

 is AJtlicva offichiaUs . 



MUSKMELONS(PlateXlX) 

 are n(.)W a very important com* 

 mercial product in North 

 America, and the cultivation 

 and use of them are increas- 

 ing rapidly. The hot, bright 

 climate suits them well. Musk- 

 melons thrive best in a light 

 and quick warm soil. Since 

 they are very susceptible to 

 frost and are a long-season 

 plant, it is important that they 

 secure a foothold very quickly 

 when put in the tield ; and this 

 they are not able to do on lands 

 wdiich are not well prepared 

 or which are naturally hard 

 and clayey. If JIuskmelons 



must be grow^i on such laud i^ 



it is advisable to make the 



hills. This is done Jiy digging out a half-bn-hel or bu-^lnd 

 of earth and replacing it w ith well-mixett loam and short 

 manure. The plants are then able to secure a qui<-k 

 hold on the soil and to become thoroughly establisln-d 

 before the dry weather of July and Augu-^t. 



In the southern states, the seeds of melons are usually 

 planted in the tield where the crop is to mature. In the 

 m")rthern states, however, the plants are started in 

 forcinsr-houses or hotbeds. As a iiile, hotbeds are more 

 satisfactory than forcing-houses, since the plants can b.- 

 liardened off better. In forcin2:-houses. the plants nri- 

 likely to be too hot. even tliough tlien- i- no idin- lieat. 

 and "thev tend to become very soft. riani- wliieli are 



A nutmee Melon — the St. Laud. 



to 



the folia::re eiim])letply witn 



:ihno-.t ini])o: 

 tlie poison. 



There are two ireneral types of commercial :>ru'^k- 

 melons in North America— thn furroweil and harfl-rindcii 

 kinds, which are known as cantaloupes, and the n.-tl.-d 

 and softer-rinded types, known as nutmeg or netld 

 melons i Fig. U-l-Tl. In the soutliem states the word 

 cantaloupe is used irenerically for all melons, but tliis 

 use of the term is erroneous (see Cticumis, p;i:^^c 4os. 

 I'.ailev. A. ("i. 14: 20(i: Waugh, O. F. 8: 18;":i. Tlo- vari- 

 ous strain'^ of netti-d melons are the ones mostly Lrrown 

 in thi- North for the home garden and for early markf-t. 

 The cantaloupes -.in- mostly longer-season varieties. 



