416 The Principles of Vegetahle- Gardening 



Leaves: Flea beetle, N. Y., Bull. 113, good ill. and desc. 

 Thorough spraying with Bordeaux throughout season. 

 Striped beetle, N. J. Bull. 94; N. Y. Bull. 75, desc. and illus. ; 

 N. Y. Bull. 158, desc. of remedies ; remedies; Ga. Bull. 

 45, insects. Plant squash as a trap crop, and poison the 

 beetles on the squash vines. The poison is likely to in- 

 jure the vines; so plant the squashes profusely and do not 

 poison all of them at once. Poison with Paris green and 

 lime. Spray the cucumber vines with Bordeaux mixture. 

 The hills may be covered with mosquito netting, held 

 above the plants by means of hoops, until the plants begin 

 to show signs of running. 

 Downy mildew or blight, N. Y. Bull. 156. Ohio Bull. 105. 

 Spray thoroughly with Bordeaux mixture. 



MUSKMELON 



Four by six feet is a customary distance for the hills of musk- 

 melons, making 1,185 hills to the acre. The quantity of seed required 

 is about the same as for cucumber. Sometimes two crops are grown 

 on the same land, a very early and a main -season crop. The early 

 crop is planted 4x5 feet, and two or three weeks later the main 

 crop is planted between. Three or four good fruits to the plant is 

 a good yield. 



American seedsmen offered 88 varieties of muskmelon in 1889. 

 Leading commercial varieties at present are Rocky Ford, Osage, 

 (Fig. 38), Montreal Market, Hackensack. Commercial melon- 

 growing is confined to light and sandy soils. New Jersey is an 

 important melon center. There are special melon centers in many 

 parts of the country, even as far north as Canada. 



Ciicumis Melo, muskmelon, is native to southern Asia. It was 

 grown by the ancients. It is immensely variable. The most im- 

 portant types are the cantaloupes (var. Cantalupensis) , with hard 

 and warty rinds, little grown in this country, although the word 

 cantaloupe is much used; the nutmeg or netted type (var. reticu' 

 lutus) comprising most of the American commercial varieties; 



