JANUARY 1 TO MARCH 31, 1912, 91 
33272 to 33277— Continued. 
33275 to 33277— Continued. 
greater part of Europe. Small shipments have been made in recent 
years to New York and Boston, but the total lack of cold-storage facilities 
in ships visiting this coast and the consequent very large percentage of 
deterioration in transportation has generally rendered such experiments 
unprofitable. 
"The Valencia system of melon raising requires seed beds and trans- 
planting. The seeds are planted in the former in clusters of five or six 
on a layer of animal manure wrought into a thick paste with the addition 
of water, each cluster being deposited in slight depressions in the surface 
about 8 or 9 inches apart. The bed is then covered with a light sprinkling 
of dry, pulverized manure which is kept moist by occasional spraying 
with water. Transplanting takes place when the two lateral branches 
of the plant are thrown out and the tip of the central growth is just 
appearing. The more delicate plants are discarded and only the health- 
iest and most vigorous utilized. 
"In preparing the soil for transplanting, the desired porousness is 
attained here by mixing with it the sea sand used as hog bedding, to 
which is added fertilizer in the proportion of 1 sack of ammonia sulphate, 
the favorite nitrogenous fertilizer in this region, to 10 sacks of the sand 
bedding. The rows are separated from 6 to 7 feet, and the distance 
between each plant is 30 to 36 inches. Irrigation in the absence of rain is 
given at 8-day intervals. 
"In the Alicante district, a little to the south of this, the seed are 
planted definitely in the open in pits about a yard apart in which organic 
manure has been mixed with the soil. 
"It is very difficult to obtain selected melon seed true to variety on 
the open market in this country. Each farmer reserves his own seed 
by a very practical method of selection, as only the seeds of fruit dis- 
tinguished at the family table by its sweetness, flavor, and thickness of 
pulp are set apart for future planting or exchange with neighboring 
farmers. This process of selection continued through a succession of 
years appears to be remarkably successful, attaining such uniformity 
and high quality of product that it is not unusual to find a whole planta- 
tion without a single flavorless specimen among its crop. The smallness 
of Valencia farms, however, occasionally proves an obstacle in selecting 
and preserving the purity of varieties, as the proximity of inferior stock 
may easily nullify the care and labor of the most intelligent farmer in 
melon raising. 
""Winter melons are harvested in the early fall and are suspended in 
loops of esparto cordage from nails in the beams of roofs and lofts, where 
they keep with but little deterioration for six months or more." 
33278. Clematis sp. 
From Tangier, Morocco. Procured by Mr. Walter T. Swingle, of the Bureau of 
Plant Industry, from Mr. T. Goffart, of Tangier. Received March 25, 1912. 
"Seeds of an interesting species growing abundantly in Mr. Goffart's garden. I 
think it would be interesting for trial in Florida and California and perhaps with 
protection even as far north as Washington." (Swingle.) 
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