Tlie Watermelon 



299 



feet each way. The hills are made at the intersec- 

 tion of check-rows. This " checking is usually accom- 

 plished with shovel- or turn-plow. The hills are made by 

 mixing several shovelfuls of well-rotted manure with soil 

 and then covering the whole with several inches of soft 

 earth, into which the seeds are planted directly. All dan- 

 ger of frosts should be over before planting. Avoid bak- 

 ing or crusting 

 of the earth on H 

 the hills, espe- 

 cially before 

 germination of 

 seeds. Only hand 

 tools should be 

 used in the cul- 

 tivation of crop 

 after the vines 

 have begun to 

 run, as lifting 

 or turning the 

 vines will injure quality and size of fruit. 



" Eotation is all-important,'^ as written by Starnes 

 (Bull. 38, Ga. Exp. Sta.). "In no case should melons fol- 

 low melons the next season, and at least four years should 

 intervene before the land is again planted in this crop. By 

 that time insect depredators, attracted by the first melon 

 crop, will have probably become exterminated and the drain 

 from the soil of specific plant-food (especially potash) 

 will also have been, to a certain extent, at least, made 

 good.'' 



When is a watermelon ripe? According to Starnes, 



Staminate (sterile) flowers of watermelon (X 1/3). 



