224 
Re 
be 
Paul Rose or Defender, oblong form, slightly netted; takes on golden tinge 
when fully ripe. Thick salmon flesh, superior flavor 
Continue cultivation as long as it is 
possible to work between the rows without 
injury to the vines. ‘They are quite tender, 
and bruising or crushing the vine in any 
way is likely to result in the loss of the 
entire plant. Should one of the vines be- 
come bruised or broken cut it off with a 
sharp knife and the remainder of the plant 
can probably be saved. In soils liable to 
bake to a hard crust or in very weedy ground, 
cultivation can be kept up longer if the vines 
are laid carefully to one side, the soil loos- 
ened and the vines than returned to 
their original position. This can be done 
until the fruits are 
about as large as 
a baseball, after 
which time do not 
disturb them un- 
less the vines are 
blown about by a 
heavy wind, in 
which case they 
should be re- 
turned to their 
original positions 
as soon as the 
weather permits. 
In working 
about the young 
vines during the 
early stages of 
growth, the later- 
als should be ar- 
ranged to cover 
the soil as com- 
pletely as possible, 
radiating from the 
hill as a centre 
like the spokes in 
a wagon wheel, 
and if some of the 
vines show a tend- 
ency to grow too 
long, the end of 
the shoot can be 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
pinched off, which will encourage the growth 
of side shoots or branches. This can be 
done without any loss in fruiting, as in 
nearly all muskmelons the fruits lie closely 
about the hill. After the vines have the 
soil well covered, any large weed that may 
appear can be pulled out by hand. 
Insects and diseases incident to melons are 
largely periodical in their attacks, being more 
prevalent in some seasons than in others, and 
in my experience are chiefly troublesome on 
warm, sandy soils or the typical melon 
soils of the large market growing centres. 
After the small black fly which eats the 
Netted Gem, the leading commercial melon; also known as Golden Jenny and Rocky Ford 
May, 1908 
Acme (Baltimore and Anne Arundel), distinguished by neck at stem end. 
Golden yellow skin; flavor of Netted Gem or Rocky Ford 
young seed leaves, the worst insect enemy 
of the melon plant is the aphis or melon 
louse which attacks the young foliage in 
great numbers, turning the leaves black 
with their sticky excrement. They cause the 
leaves to curl up by sucking the juices. 
Tobacco waste spread under the vines or 
fine tobacco dust scattered on the leaves 
is a good preventive, but when a vine is seen 
to be infested with lice it is best to pull it 
up and burn at once to prevent the pest 
from spreading. I have seen these insects 
spread across a large field in a clearly 
marked line, like the shadow cast by a 
cloud on a sum- 
mer day, when the 
main portion of 
the field could 
have been saved 
by carefully de- 
stroying the vines 
on which insects 
first appeared. 
The striped 
squash beetle 
sometimes  trou- 
bles the melon 
patch, cutting 
the vines, the foli- 
age and skin of 
the fruits. There 
isno remedy. The 
blight is discussed 
on another page. 
My advice is to 
plant a good area 
with melons each 
year and take the 
chances of getting 
a good supply of 
fruits, changing 
the location to 
fresh soil each 
season as a safe- 
guard against in- 
sects and disease. 
