HOME VEGETABLE GARDENING 
WATERMELONS ON THE PACIFIC COAST 
TN THE warm, alluvial soils of the interior regions, 
watermelons thrive like weeds. They do better in 
the warmer sections than muskmelons, and are more 
easily suited in their soil requirements. Best results 
are obtained in the light, sandy soils underlaid by a heavier 
subsoil that retains the moisture well. But good melons 
can be grown all along the coast, on most any soil. 
For an earliest crop home gardeners sometimes take a 
chance of losing the first planting by sowing seeds in March. 
April is a perfectly safe month to sow seeds in the interior 
valleys, while May is the earliest month to make sowings 
in frosty localities. For a succession, sowings may be 
made up to July and, in frostless regions, melons may be 
enjoyed until Christmas. 
Lodi is a light green sort which, for many years, ruled 
supreme on the Pacific Coast and still controls some of 
the California markets. 
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