MELON. 



209 



and take great care to get that whicli is perfectly pure, for 

 the seed melons raised in proximity to gourds, cucum- 

 bers, pumpkins, &c., will produce new varieties, destitute 

 of flavor. All plants of this family are exceedingly liable 

 to intermix, to their great detriment. They will deterio- 

 rate, if planted within one hundred feet of each other. 



Plant in the open ground as soon as the frosts are well 

 over here, the 1st of April and through the month ; but in 

 the low country the seed should be put in the ground in 

 March. Make the hills six feet apart each way ; dig a hole 

 for them a foot deep and two feet across, and fill it half full 

 with good well-rotted manure. Upon this throw six inches of 

 good soil, and mix well together. Finish out with light 

 sandy loam, or if a stiff soil, mingle in charcoal dust to cor- 

 rect its tenacity, so as to bring the hill just above the sur- 

 face. Make the hill dishing, as for the cucumber. To guard 

 against accident, plant about ten seeds in the hill, and 

 cover an inch deep. The cucumber bug may be driven 

 off if troublesome, as directed for cucumber. A little 

 guano sprinkled around the hill, not too near the plants, 

 and intermingled with the surface soil, will also by its 

 pungent smell, drive off the cucumber bug . and flea, and 

 also prove a very valuable fertilizer of the plants. Wa- 

 tering with guano water for the same purpose is very bene- 

 ficial. When the plants make two or three rough leaves 

 thin them out to three of the best in each hill, and pull 

 up one of these soon after. When the vines begin to run, 

 and show the first blossom, they must be stopped by pinch- 

 ing off the extreme bud as in the cucumber. This will en- 

 der them earlier and more prolific in large fruit. If wa- 

 tered liberally with soapsuds in dry weather, they will 

 repay the trouble. Keep the ground about them, fresh- 

 dug, mellow, and free from weeds. Their whole culture 

 is like the cucumber. Melons may be forced in all the 



