for i\)t Xjoimn;. 
COUNTRY COUSINS. 
How dear to my heart are the sweet country cousins 
When deg days of Summer begin to druw near. 
When bricks have grown hot and when sunstrokes 
by dose us 
Fill body with anguish and bosom with fear! 
The green waving fields and the sweet smelling 
breezes, 
The ’scaping from turmoil to quiet and calm, 
The rich creamy milk which the ready hand seizes, 
And e'en the brown cousins who live on the farm. 
The plain country cousins, the uncultured cousins, 
The sweet country OOutiUS who live on the farm. 
The swcetoountry cousins! oh, aren’t they a treasure? 
How handy to have at the vacation time 1 
Ai d paying one's board is a too costly pleasure, 
When all cun be had without spending a dime. 
How pleasant to live on rich Cream ard ripe berries 
Fresh golden li ued butter and cakes {lightand warm, 
Free use of the horses, the carts ann the wherries 
Of sweet country cousins who live on the farm! 
The plain eouutry cousins, the uncultured cousins, 
The sweet eouutry cousins who live on the farm! 
Uow ill nr arc the sweet country cousins In Summer, 
How fragrant the meadows, romantic the down! 
lint straightway your faces begin to grow glummer, 
AI thoughts of their visit next Winter to town. 
The Hunter, the concert, (he lecture, the money 
Expended In tickets! The thought gives a qualm; 
The sequel of Summer is not quite so funny— 
Why don't the sweet cousins remain on the farm? 
The brown visaged cousins, the great awkward cous¬ 
ins, 
The bothersome cousins should stay on the farm. 
YOUTHS’ 
HORTICULTURAL CLUB 
OF THE 
RURAL NEW-YORKER! 
SEVENTH REGULAR DISCUSSION. 
Toptc: Melon Culture—How to Prepare 
and Fertilize the Soil; How and when 
to Plant; Insects,how to Destroy; 
Best Varieties of Musk and 
Watermelons. 
Uncle Mark : After a long vacation we 
will again give our attention to the regular 
discussions of the Club. I was in hopes there 
would be more to take part in the present dis¬ 
cussion than there are, but we cannot wait for 
those who have no interest in our work, as 
long as there are a few who are willing to take 
hold. Out of so lary e a Club there ought 1 o be 
at least a hundred letters for each discussion. 
I hope the parents of our young members will 
encourage their children to action in this 
work. Now we will hear what an Illinois 
Cousin has to say about melon culture: 
Helen Leikem Melons should have a light, 
mellow soiL Select your plat in the Fall and 
manure it with well-rotted manure. In the 
Spring work up the soil into hills six feet 
apart each way. Plant your seeds about May 
25th. Allow four plants to the hill. When 
they are well up give each hill one quart of 
water every evening from the barnyard. 
Watch for the first appearance of the melon 
bugs. Arise each morning before the sun, 
and you will be able to catch each one. A 
few mornings of earnest work will deliver you 
from the pests. While you are killing bugs 
you may at the same time work up the soil 
around your plants, leaving a hollow for the 
water to settle around the roots. They who 
wish to succeed in agriculture and horticul¬ 
ture must not be afraid of soiling their hands 
B. D. Niles: —The soil for melons should be 
thoroughly worked. It should be manured 
with phosphate or rich compost just below the 
surface. Plant a dozen seeds in a hill the 
hills six feet apart for musk and tight feet for 
watermelons. Plant as toon as the ground 
becomes warm iu the Spring. I should har¬ 
vest and market as soon as the first fruit is 
ripe. To protect from insects 1 use boxes 
without top or bottom placed over the 
hills. The best musk is Surprise, and a good 
watermelon is Phinney’a Early. 
Uncle Mark: —If we are raising early mel 
o ns, it is a good plan to plant the seeds on in 
verted sods cut about four inches square. 
Place the seeds in a frame of any kind and 
cover them about half an inch deep with mel 
low earth. In these soils the plants will take 
firm root and when the weather becomes 
warm and settled in the Spring they may be 
safely transplanted. Where the seasons are 
short this is an excellent plan; and in any 
case the earlier the melons ripen the sweeter 
they will be. Late ones are hardly ever ripe. 
Hulda Lick: —To prepare the soil for mel¬ 
ons, spade deep and put a good shovelful of 
manure in each hill, plant about six seeds in a 
hill and allow them to grow until they have 
four leaves; then select out two or three of 
the best looking plants and pull the others up. 
The melon bugs will probably make their ap¬ 
pearance as soon as the melons come up. The 
best way to keep them off is to look over the 
vines every morning and evening and pick 
them off and kill them; if done every morn¬ 
ing it will require only a few minutes. I did 
so and had no trouble. I did not plant my 
melons this year until nearly the middle of 
June, it was so cold. Surprise muskmelons 
and Early Jersey and Black Spanish water¬ 
melons do well here in Oshawa, Ontario. I 
have an excellent kind of a watermelon of 
which I should like to know the name. A 
friend gave me the seeds, who says they came 
from Russia. I water my melons once a week 
with barnyard water; the best time to water 
them is about sundown, or very early in the 
morning; it is not good to water any plauts 
in the middle of the day when the sun is shin¬ 
ing hot. 
Uncle Mark: —Earliness in maturing is an 
important, consideration in melon raising. To 
this end it is best to start the plants in a hot¬ 
bed. The melon will thrive best in a rich 
sandy loam. The hill should be a foot or more 
in diameter and a few inches higher than the 
surrounding surface. Two or three plants to 
a hill, after thinning, are sufficient, and when 
the trines begin bo run pinch them back. If 
the seed is sown in the hills, a wooden box 
open at top or covered with glass or mosquito 
netting will afford protection against bugs. 
Stella Davenport:— I will try and tell 
you how we raise melons, so as to have them 
early. Cut seds from the meadow about 
four inches square and two and a half inches 
deep; cut a hole in the center, fill nearly full 
with sand and soil, and put in the seed and 
cover it. These can then be placed in a hot¬ 
bed. This way melon plants can be had two 
weeks earlier than by planting in the open 
ground and the melons will be uieer. 
Geo. Jones:—I have succeeded best with 
watermelons by planting them on new ground 
from which the brush has just been removed. 
I dust the plants with fine bone flour to keep 
off the bugs. The Mountain Sweet and 
Orange are goo I varieties, though those re- 
ceivtd from you are superior to anj r we have 
ever raised in respect to quality. They are 
smaller, though, than most other varieties. 
Irvin:— I take little bottomless boxes of 
various sizes and sec them on a board and 
fill them with earth. Then I put one seed in 
each box. The young vines are transplanted 
into hills four feet apart, one vine iu each hill. 
Each hill has a shovelful of manure placed in 
the bottom. I believe in starting melon plants 
early in the season. 
Uncle Mark; —Considering the varieties, 
we may name among muskmc Ions, aH the ear¬ 
liest, New Surprise and Jenny Lind, and for 
the general crop, Fine Nutmeg, Orange Chris¬ 
tina and New Valparaiso. Of watermelons 
the Excelsior, Early Mountain Sprout and 
Goodwin’s Imperial are the earliest, and the 
Cuban Queen, Black Spanish, and Ice Cream 
are fine for general crop. Orange and Impe¬ 
rial Rattlesnake are popular Southern sorts. 
1 hope that all who received seeds of our dis¬ 
tribution wili plant them another year. 
Nearly all our reports have spoken highly of 
the quality, and we know that the praise is 
not unduly bestowed. In closing, let me urge 
the members of the Club to greater activity 
in this work. Send in your remarks early; 
you can do better than you think. 
-- 
LETTERS FROM THE COUSINS. 
Dear Uncle Mark.—As the crop of mel¬ 
ons which I raised from the seeds you kindly 
sent me is ripe, I will send you a description 
of the planting and cultivation as required, 
though the crop is small. I noticed in a late 
number of the Rural, a letter from P. G. 
Towner, who says she has 17 melons on three 
vines; that makes my crop look small indeed, 
I received six seeds and planted them in 
boxes May 4th. Only two grew and on the 
Uch of June I set them out in the ground, in 
a hill, and put in about a panful of well rot 
ted manure and kept them hoed and free 
from weeds. Later on, the ends of the vines 
were pinched so the strength could go into 
the melons. There were only two melons, 
one on each vine. The largest one was 
picked Oct. 1st and weighed 13pounds. 
The longitudinal circumference was 34 inc hes, 
the longitudinal diameter 13 inches. The 
cross circumfert nee was 24 inches, cross di¬ 
ameter eight inches; rind one-half inch thick. 
The second melon was picked Oct., Sih and 
weighed 11 pounds. The longitudinal cir¬ 
cumference 31 inches, and longitudinal di¬ 
ameter 12 inches; cross circumference 22 
inches, cross diameter six and three quarter 
inches, We had several other melon vines 
this Bummer but the season was so unfavora¬ 
ble that not one single melon set on any ex¬ 
cept the Rural vines, so we think that in an 
ordinary season it would be a profitable melon 
to raise; and for eating, we like it better 
than any other kind we ever raised except 
the Peerless. Kind wishes for the Rural. 
Your niece, Nellie Salisbury. 
Gratiot Co., Michigan. 
Drar Uncle Mark:— Now I must tell you 
all about the Rural melons but I do not expect 
l to get any prize. I live away out here in the 
" cold. I planted them May 30th and put bone 
dust in the hill. June 15th one plant made 
i its appearance, and two more came up after¬ 
wards; that made three vines. They grew, 
and blossomed and set fruit. Four melons 
stayed on the vines; they were picked Oct. 
10th. The largest weighed 10 pounds and is 
10/i inches long, 21’^ inches in circumference. 
The next weighed seven pounds, was 14}$' 
inches in circumference. The third weighed 
4% pounds, was 11 - , inches long and 17 inches 
circumference, and the “baby” melon weighed 
one pound; total 22 Jx pounds. I have not cut 
any of the melons yet, please drop in and help 
eat them! What I would like, Uncle Mark, is 
your picture. Enclosed find a piece of poetry, 
which I found in another paper. I would 
like to have you publish it in the Cousins de¬ 
partment. Your niece, 
Chautauqua Co., N. Y, Dora Bird. 
[Your request is granted as to the poetry, 
but the picture, alas! Can’t you come and 
see the original? U. M.] 
Dear Uncle Mark. —Agreeable to your 
request we write a few lines; though we have 
but little to communicate apart from the usual 
occurrences around a farm-house, with which 
you already are familiar, while we have still 
much to learn. Where are all the horticul¬ 
turists gone; we hear so little of them ? Once 
in awhile some will say something about cor¬ 
responding, then all is still again. Come, 
arouse from your drowsy slumbers, and con¬ 
tribute your mite to the dear old Rural, 
though it be but little that you can do. Our 
reports are not very favorable, as we had a 
very wet Spring. Two of our melon seeds 
came up, and were one inch high, when it 
rained and drowned them. The hollyhocks 
are doing finely; the celery is excellent. We 
are going to save seed of it. Our dianthus 
are very showy; some are two inches in 
diameter and some didn’t blossom. Those we 
will have for house plants. We have seven 
geraniums, one calla, one amaryllis, four 
kinds of cactus, one Adam’s apple tree, 
fuchsias and other flowers. We are very fond 
of flowers and love to cultivate them. 
Your nieces, 
Erie Co , N. Y. S. and N. 
Dear Uncle Mark: —I must write you a 
letter and tell you about my watermelons. I 
planted the seeds you sent me, and I thank 
you very much for them for I think they are 
a valuable variety. I planted the seeds in a 
little mound and put some chicken manure 
in every hill, and watered them every even¬ 
ing. I hoed them when they were small. Tho 
melons were not very large ones. I planted 
the seeds about the 20th of May, and when 
they were about four feet high I cut off the 
ends of the vines so as to make the melons 
larger. There were only four vines that came 
up and two of them died. There were two 
vines left, one vine had two melons on and 
the other had three. I left them on the vine 
to see what you said about the watermelons, 
but I had to pull them after all. The green 
rind and white rind both were only about a 
quarter of an inch thick. The melon is fine 
flavored. One melon weighed six pounds and 
two of them 6% pounds each, another 7% 
pounds, and the largest one weighed \\}4 
pounds. Your niece, 
Minnie Palmer. 
Miami Co., Kans. 
Dear Uncle Mark:— I planted the mflon 
seeds I received last Spring, but only two 
came up. It was so dry the first of the season 
they almost died, though I watered them. 
Some of papa’s melon plants also died. Only 
two melons started, and when the rains came 
the vines were covered with water and 
drowned. None of papa’s were good; one of 
mine was not good. Papa thinks mine would 
have been very nice if the vines had lived. 
The vines had been dead two weeks when 
we cut the melon, and the flesh was not very 
red then. We have saved the seed. The 
melon was 10 inches long, six inches in diame¬ 
ter, and weighed seveD pounds, and was a 
darker color than papa’s Mountain Sweet or 
Vick’s Early. Your niece, 
Windham Co, Vt. Josie A. Johnson. 
Dear Uncle Mark: — I recived six sec d-< n 
the distribution, which I planted, only two of 
which came up. They were hoed twice and 
kept free from weeds. Date of picking, Sept. 
13th. The longitudinal diameter was 
inches; cross diameter, inches; circum¬ 
ference, 22% inches; weight, 10 pounds two 
ounces. The white rind was inch thick. 
There were 17 melons, very uniform in size. 
I never picked Lilt two of them; some one 
came one night and took all the rest. I was 
very sorry, for my pa said he never saw so 
nice a show of melons on two vines. 
Your niece, Martha E. Hill. 
Kalamazoo Co., Mich. 
Dear Uncle Mark: —Were you playing 
us all a joke when yon sent out those prize 
watermelon seeds? I think so; they proved 
such an utter failure with so many of the 
cousins. I planted my Beeds April 6th in good 
garden soil well enriched with hen manure in 
the hills. Five seeds came up from May 1st 
to 6th; four lived. The largest melon weighed 
seven pounds; next, five; two, two pounds 
each, total sixteen pounds. I am twelve years 
old and live on a farm. Your nephew, 
Archie Randall. 
Franklin Co., Kans. 
Dear Uncle Mark: —I intended to write 
before and give the dimensions of my largest 
watermelon, but. 1 am afraid I ain too late. 
There were seven melons on the vine, but the 
dimensions of the largest melon are: Length, 
10 inches; circu inference, 24 inches; weight, 
13 pounds 8}^ ounces. It was delicious; it 
was a beautiful red inside, with a thin rind. I 
tbink the season here is too short to grow 
melons to perfection. I have been very busy 
preparing some Christmas presents for my 
little friends or I would have written sooner. 
Your niece, 
Cornwall, Ont. Ella-M. Turner, 
SADIES t ° h f e 
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