CHAPTER XXI. 
VINE OR CUCURBITOUS CROPS. 
: UCURBITOUS” is a fine large word, 
C but you don’t need to learn it. All 
vine crops are annuals and are tender to 
frost, although all do not need a hot-bed start. 
They are warm-season crops, and in the Northern 
States most of them need a quick start so that 
they can ripen before the summer is past. Well- 
prepared soil and a sunny exposure are desirable. 
They transplant with such difficulty that they 
are usually sown where they are to grow, but 
if not, it is best to start them on sods turned 
upside down, or in pots or boxes. They are 
always a main crop and are planted in hills. 
There is very little difference in the cultivation of 
any of them, and if you know how and where to 
grow one, you will generally do well with the rest. 
Where you fail, you may usually lay it to the 
fact that your soil was not in condition to give 
the young plants a good hold and to get a quick 
start. If your soil is well prepared, well drained 
and properly fertilized, you will havelittle trouble, 
unless it may be from pests. The way to fight 
those is to sow seed freely, and be content to lose 
the greater part of your possible crop. 
Some growers who make a specialty of melons 
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