1914. 
'1' RTtC RURAL NEW-YORKER 
o 1 3 
GROWING THE OSAGE MELON FOR PROFIT 
Part II. 
A deep cultivation is recommended for tlie first 
and second cultivation, and after that cultivation 
should he as shallow as possible. Muskmelons seem 
to delight in frequent working and hoeing, and as 
we are after the early melons, it is important that 
the vines he grown and rushed along to maturity as 
soon as possible. This is one of the 
important points in melon growing, as 
sometimes a difference of a week in 
marketing may mean .$500 to $1,000 in 
profit where seven or eight acres are 
being grown. The sooner the melon 
can be grown and matured the sooner 
the cultivation can stop and the melon 
be ripened. If the melon can be grown 
fast in the first part of the season so 
as to reach its size, cultivation can 
cease and the soil will begin to di’y 
out, which will have a tendency to 
ripen the melons earlier. In the pick¬ 
ing and marketing of the melons care 
should be taken to handle them care¬ 
fully and not bruise them, as it de¬ 
pends much upon the condition of the 
melon when it reaches the consumer 
whether he will want it or not. 
The right and wrong way of pack¬ 
ing is shown in Fig. 213. In the low¬ 
er crate the melons are all laid one 
way and packed snug and tight so as 
not to shake and bruise in transit. In 
the upper crate some are laid one way 
and some another, giving a chance for 
shaking and bruising, and thus going to 
. the market in bad condition. As I 
have no seed to sell I feel free to say 
a word in regard to seed. We have 
never trusted to the seed men for our 
Osage seed as few men can afford to 
save the best Osage melons to get 
seed from, but I have made it a prac¬ 
tice for years to save our own seed 
from some of the earliest and best 
developed melons. Fig. 215 shows the 
type we desire for seed, a well-formed, 
shallow, even-ribbed melon, slightly 
netted and very thick-fleshed as shown 
in Fig. 185, page 475. It usually takes 
about two dozen of these melons to 
furnish one pound of seed, but we 
would be willing to pay $5 per pound 
for this seed, rather than $1 per pound 
for inferior seed. 
Fig. 214 shows one day’s picking, 
packed and ready for market. The boy 
shown in Fig. 21G is the junior mem¬ 
ber of the firm and is paid for picking 
every day he picks. Although but 
seven years of age, he has become ex¬ 
pert in telling ripe melons. He is also 
an expert on the flavor of ripe melons, 
and it is surprising how much melon 
a small boy can hold. 
Just a word on advertising. In my 
opinion the best way of advertising is 
to ship nothing that is inferior, and 
labeling the crate with the variety, 
stating where grown and by whom. If 
you have a really good article do not 
be afraid to waste a few crates by giv¬ 
ing away to buyers, thereby letting 
them know what you have. This is 
one of the best ways of advertising 
(through a man’s stomach) and it has 
enabled me to contract my crop for 
five years in succession to the same 
buyer before picking a melon. Melon 
growing, like other fruit, has its ups 
and downs, hut taking it one year 
with another, if one has the soil, and 
can work up a market, growing melons 
with a flavor, putting them up in an 
attractive package, will prove a pleas¬ 
ant and profitable business. 
IT. B. BI.ANDFORD. 
It. N.-Y.—Mr. Blandford’s reference 
to flavor brings to miml the destructive 
and at the time of thrashing the separ- 
melon blight, which has made cantaloupe growing 
uncertain in many localities. Where blight exists, 
it is found that flavor deteriorates even before evi¬ 
dence of the disease is noticed on the foliage. There 
is little doubt that many poor melons that disap¬ 
point the consumer are from affected plants. But 
growers of superior stock in any intensive line are 
likely to find that they must select their own seed. 
This is true, too, in special florists’ flowers. 
GROWING HAIRY VETCH FOR SEED. 
At the present time little attention is paid to 
growing the seed of Ilairy vetch as a commercial 
enterprise. It has been grown for seed in small 
quantities in Washington, Oregon, Michigan, Mary¬ 
land, Ohio, Connecticut, and a few other Northern 
States, but the production has been inadequate to 
supply even the needs of the localities in which it 
ONE DAY’S PICKING OF OSAGE MELONS. Fig. 211. 
fYPE OF MELONS DESIRED FOR SEED. Fig. 215. 
A MELON FIELD AND A YOUNG PICKER. Fig. 21b. 
was grown. Practically the entire supply of seed 
has been obtained from Russia and Germany, where 
it brings upon the wholesale market from three to 
seven cents a pound. During the last few years 
the annual import of Hairy vetch seed to the United 
States has been about 500.000 pounds. In America 
the seed varies in price from $4 to $9 per bushel of 
00 pounds, so that under ordinary conditions seed 
production should be a profitable operation. There 
seems little likelihood that European seed will ever 
reach the farmer at a satisfactory price, and be¬ 
cause of its hardiness and adaptability to varying 
soil and climatic conditions it can be, and should 
be, grown in nearly every State in the Union. 
The methods of handling the seed crop vary; 
due partly to difference of opinion as to the best 
method, but more largely to the machinery which 
the grower has on hand. The planting of vetch for 
seed production should always be thin¬ 
ner than for hay and forage purposes. 
Generally in Europe the seed is sown 
with a grain drill or thrown broad¬ 
cast on the rougher areas. It may be 
sown by itself, but often small quan¬ 
tities of oats or barley are used to give 
support to the growing vetch plant, 
and at the time of threshing the separ¬ 
ation is accomplished by a fanning 
mill. Occasionally fields are planted 
in rows and cultivated. This seems 
experimentally to be the best method, 
but commercially it must be estimated 
if the increased yield resulting will 
offset the additional cost of cultiva¬ 
tion. If the row method is to be used, 
the seeds are drilled in rows one to 
iy 2 foot apart, and cultivation is prac¬ 
tised as long as the plants will per¬ 
mit. Twenty to 30 pounds of seed per 
acre is the best rate of seeding ac¬ 
cording to tests made in Washington 
and Oregon, but more is required if 
the seed is to be sown broadcast. 
In general practise the time of gath¬ 
ering should be whenever the bottom 
pods have become dry and are ready 
to burst. The vetch ripens its seed un¬ 
evenly, but at this time there is the 
greatest per cent of mature seed on 
the plant. Later cutting occasions 
more shattering of the seed; while 
earlier cutting results in a consider¬ 
able percentage of immature seed. In 
some localities where but little seed 
is raised, an ordinary mower is used 
to harvest the crop. The vetch is 
rolled back from the uncut area so 
that the machine will not break open 
the seed pods when cutting the next 
swath. Care must be taken, as the 
pods are very easily shattered. Some¬ 
times the first swath cut is rolled over 
the uncut vetch, and when the suc¬ 
ceeding swath is cut the two are rolled 
back out of the way. Thus by putting 
the vetch in larger swaths the loss 
from shattering is reduced. 
If the growth of seed is to be under¬ 
taken for commercial purposes it is 
essential to have more adequate ma¬ 
chinery. An ordinary grain binder can 
he used when the vetch is erect, and 
when thus harvested, the crop is put 
in shocks and allowed to remain there 
until thrashed. The important rule in 
growing vetch seed is to handle the 
crop rapidly and as little as possible 
to prevent loss by shattering. 
When vetch is put through an or¬ 
dinary thrashing machine there is 
danger of splitting the seeds. In or¬ 
der to reduce this cracking of the seeds 
to a minimum it is best to remove 
most of the concave teeth. The ex¬ 
pense of thrashing is higher than 
might he imagined, usually from 18 
to 25 cents per bushel. This is due 
to the fact that vetch thrashes very 
slowly. Under favorable conditions 
10 to 12 bushels to the acre have been 
obtained, but as a rule only five or six 
may be expected. Before storing 
away in a cool, dry, well-ventilated 
loft, it is advisable to run the seed 
through a fanning mill. Besides re¬ 
moving any oats or barley present, 
this will eliminate many noxious weed 
seeds. Old seed germinates poorly, 
and if kept more than two years after 
growth it deteriorates rapidly. Many 
growers have already considered the production of 
Hairy vetch seed for their own home use. Un¬ 
doubtedly it will not be long before this field is 
widened, and gradually cheaper American grown 
seed will replace the more costly imported stock 
of to-day. 
3 iieue was a rhubarb show in London on February 
28. It is said that nine-tenths of the world’s supply of 
forced rhubarb is grown near Leeds, England. 
