50 
H. G. Hastings & Co., Seedsmen. Atlanta. Georgia. 
HASTINGS’ WATERMELON SEED 
Is Strictly Southern Grown and Saved from Crops Grown Exclusively for Seed. All 
Seed Taken from Selected Melons Only. No Melons Sold or Shipped from Onr Crops 
FACTS ABOUT WATERMELON SEED 
Outside of our specially grown watermelon seed there are three gen¬ 
eral sources of supply of watermelon seed for the seed trade of the United 
States. 
First Is seed from Kansas and Nebraska. This seed Is grown on rich 
prairie soils forcing a rank growth of vines and rapid growing, inferior 
tasteless melons. The growing season is short, a large part of the melons 
never mature. The seed is saved from everything big, little,perfect and im¬ 
perfect, matured melons and half ripe o.nes with hard centers. Like pro¬ 
duces like, and almost in every instance where we have investigated cases 
Ilf watermelon crops having what we know as ‘hard centers” the seed 
has come from seedsmen who obtain their supply from these Western 
lirairie States. 
A second source of supply is from the Southern States where crops are 
grown for seed purposes, but seed saved from everything, large and small, 
perfect and imperfect. We have seen crops of this kind where seed were 
tieing saved from melons weighing not over two or three pounds, most of 
them diseased and rotten ended. Many Northern houses are using the 
latter seed aud have been for years. They can buy and sell it at a cheap 
trice, but you don’t and can’t expect to get good melons from seed saved 
ike that. Every cent saved by you if you purchase such seed costs you 
dollars in your crop grown from' it. 
The third source of supply is the worst. In Florida and Georgia there 
are thousands of acres of watermelons planted every year for shipment to 
the Northern markets. The shipping season is a short one and usually 
about half the melons produced are shipped, and this part shipped is al¬ 
ways the pick of the patch. The small, inferior melons, the “culls,” are 
left. After the shipping season is over gangs of men go through the fields 
B ltd seed is saved from everything that is left. Every melon fit to save 
-eed from has been shipped' and seed is saved only from melons that 
-hould have been used to feed the hogs. 
Hastings’ ’Watermelon Seed is from crops grown exclusively for seed 
jiurposes in the South. Our crops are given highest culture. Not a melon 
is sold or shipped from our seed crops. In seed saving no seed is taken 
from imperfect melons or from melons weighing less than 1.5 pounds. Seed 
is saved only from the best melons and we feed hogs on what most every 
other grower gets most of his seed from. 
HOW TO GROW GOOD MELONS 
The South is the home of the watermelon, aud every one wants to grow 
them to perfection. There is nothing that can take the place of a large, 
sweet, juicy watermelon on a hot summer day, and our special strains of 
Southern grown melon seed should be used in every garden in the South 
where something especially good is wanted. 
Melons do best in a rich, sandy loam soil, but where this is not obtain¬ 
able they can be grown on clay lands or warm sunny hillsides. The best 
fertilizer is welt rotted stable manure. The hills should be 8 to 10 feet 
apart each way. Plow deeply and cultivate thoroughly, reducing the soil 
toafine condition. By deep plowing we mean 10 to 12 inches. Water¬ 
melons do not root very deeply, but they do spread. In applying fertilizer 
spread it to a considerable distance, say 3 feet o\it from the center of each 
hill. It is well to encourage this natural tendency to spread the roots. 
Where it is necessary to use commercial fertilizer use one as near the fol¬ 
iowing formula as possible: Nitrogen, 3%; Potash, 8%; Phosphoric Acid 
(available), 8%. This formula has given best results on melon lands. Use 
from 2 to 3 pounds of the above formula to each hill, working it in and 
mixing it thoroughly wdth the soil. This should be done 10 days to 2 weeks 
before the seed is planted. First plantings can be made as soon as soil gets 
warm in the spring, and succession plantings can be made up to June in 
this latitude. Plant 8 to 10 seeds in each hill, thinning out after the rough 
leaves have formed to the 2 strongest plants in each hill, (.ultivate lightly 
until runners come out well into the middles. If large weeds come up, cut 
them off. Do not pull them up, as it disturbs both the roots and the vines: 
The vines after they begin to run should never be moved or disturbed. It 
always injures the crop. When there are plenty of blooms on the plants 
pinch off the ends of the runners. Where extra large melons are desired 
leave only 1 plant to each hill and only lor 2 melons to each vine. Insects 
are sometimes troublesome to the young plants before they begin to run. 
Dust plants with our “Plant Lice Killer.” (See page 47.) 
It is useless to try to grow good melons from any seed except carefully 
selected Southern grown. Ifyou have Hastings’melon seed you will not 
be disappointed in your melon crop. Our prices on melon seed are higher 
than most ho\ises. It is strictly a case of difference in quality. Over halt 
the melons grown in any crop are unfit, in our opinion, to save seed from 
and we throw them away so far as seed saving is concerned. 
A GOOD SWEET JUICY OLD-TIME AUGUSTA RATTLESNAKE WATERMELON 
Hastings’ Augusta Rattlesnake Watermelnn 
is simply perfection. Every seed ofit is taken from melons weighing 3( 
This is the variety that made Georgia famous as a melon-growing State. No place 
in the world produces such melons as the Rattlesnake growm in ceitain sections 
_ _ _ , of the South. No oue has such pure seed of the famous variety asourselves. It 
is simply perfection. Every seed of it is taken from melons weighing 30 pounds or over and 60 to 70-pound melons are nothing unusual in our crops. It 
you have been buying seed of “Georgia Rattlesnake” as usually sold you don’t know how good the Rattlesnake melon is. The melons grown from our 
seed of this are so flue that they cannot fail to give you entire satisfaction. We consider “Augusta Rattlesnake” the best second early' melon there is. 
Plant some ofit this year. Rkt, lO cts.; oz., 15 cts.; tit lb., 55 cts.; lb.« SI.25; postpaid. lO-Ib. lots or over, not prei>ai«l Sl.OD |>er Ib. 
