CANTALOUP CULTURE 745 
readily find the hills, and a hard dash of 
rain will form a hard chunk, or crust, 
right over the seed. The surface of the 
soil should be dry to insure good work 
with the planter. A man with some ex- 
perience can plant from three to five 
acres per day with a planter, while one 
acre per day is about all that can be ac- 
complished with a hoe. 
The principal argument for the hill sys- 
tem of growing cantaloupes is the econ- 
omy of labor, for more of the weeding 
and hoeing can be done with a horse. 
In the drill system the rows are usu- 
ally put about the same distance apart, 
but the seed are sown in drill rows, the 
seed being dropped every two or three 
inches; this method requires about two 
to three pounds of seed per acre. The 
seed is sown either with a hand drill, 
shown in Plate No. 5, the horse planter, 
or the sugar beet drill is used. The im- 
portant point is to get the seed dropped 
uniformly, and the drill set to plant at 
a uniform depth—not over one and a 
half inches; as soon as the plants are 
nicely up they should be thinned to sin- 
gle plants, far enough apart to permit 
hoeing between. After the danger from 
insect injuries is over, and about the 
time the first blossoms appear, the plants 
should be thinned again to one plant 
every two feet, on the average; the tend- 
ency at this point is to leave the plants 
too thick, especially if the plants are 
extra, fine. The most advanced plants 
are selected, which is the cause of the 
drilled fields usually maturing earlier 
than the hill planted, and the earlier de- 
velopment usually compensates for the 
extra cost of the increased amount of 
seed, and the added labor of thinning. 
The essential points in planting are to 
get the seed planted at a uniform depth, 
and at a uniform distance from the irri- 
gation furrow; to have the soil fine and 
firmed just right, to skillfully conserve 
and apply moisture, and to keep a crust 
from interfering with the young seed- 
lings. 
In the arid regions the seed is usu- 
ally planted about one-half inch deeper 
than it is expected the plants will come 
through, in order to hold the moisture 
line to the seed. When the seed is well 
sprouted the hills are raked off with a 
garden rake, removing the crust and any 
clods that might interfere. Sometimes 
the field is harrowed across the rows 
with good results, especially where the 
rows are drilled in. This matter of “rak- 
ing off’ and keeping the surface fine over 
the hills is a very important point to be 
observed in securing a good stand. 
Irrigation 
The moisture problem in cantaloup 
growing is a very important one. Some 
times in the humid sections, there is too 
much water, and it becomes the question 
of how to save the crop; but little can be 
said here, except to select well drained 
fields for the cantaloupes and provide the 
field with furrows, like the irrigation 
furrow, to carry off the excess rain wa- 
ter, and to plant on somewhat raised 
hills or ridges. 
In the arid sections the moisture for 
the crop as a rule depends on the irriga- 
tion furrow, and the skill of the grower 
to so manipulate the soil and water. Too 
many look upon irrigation as a simple 
process of running water through the 
rows, or over the ground, paying little or 
no attention to the needs or demands or 
the dangers of flooding or oversoaking 
the land. When soil is completely sat- 
urated with water the air is practically 
all driven out and the soil settles, which 
defeats the very object and purpose of 
plowing and the other work of soil prep- 
aration, which will dry hard and noth- 
ing but frost can ever mellow it as be- 
fore. 
The application of water to all such 
crops as cantaloupes should be by sub- 
irrigation, that is, the moisture should 
soak through the soil to the plant or seed, 
from the irrigation furrow, without the 
surface of the soil, except in the furrows 
coming in contact with the water; this 
is essential not only for the needs of 
the plant but also the same amount of 
water will serve a longer time the needs 
of the plants, the water rights in some 
ditches making it necessary to conserve 
the moisture as long as possible. 
