EARLY CANTALOUPES. 
BY P. K. BLINN. 
One of the most important questions connected with canta¬ 
loupe growing is how to get them early, for here as elsewhere it is 
the “early bird that catches the worm.” The high prices received 
for the first cantaloupes on the market offer great reward to the 
grower who is successful in maturing his crop a few days in ad¬ 
vance of his neighbors. 
It is not uncommon in the vicinity of Rocky Ford for the ex¬ 
tra early cantaloupe field to return to the grower from two to three 
hundred dollars per acre, and it is in hope of such returns that 
every grower plants his seed; but as the season advances it soon 
becomes evident that from one cause or another many have fallen 
behind in the race, and only those who are fortunate enough to 
escape the various adverse conditions which beset the crop from 
time to time and check its growth, succeed in getting the early 
crates. 
Some of the many factors that influence the development of a 
crop of cantaloupes are beyond the control of the farmer, but this 
bulletin is planned to deal with the elements that can be influ¬ 
enced by him, not with a view to giving specific rules which will 
insure an early crop, for the varied conditions of different farms 
and seasons make explicit directions of little value; but to present 
from observation and experience such facts as may reveal to some 
extent the underlying principles to be considered in producing a 
crop of cantaloupes. 
Seed .—The Netted Gem cantaloupe is virtually the only va¬ 
riety grown in the cantaloupe growing sections of Colorado, yet 
there is almost a variety variation in some of the strains of seed 
from different growers, due to varying lines of selection. It is 
generally conceded that the most perfectly developed types are not 
quite so apt to be early as the cantaloupe grown from “slickers” 
or culls; but the ultimate value of a good melon and its influence 
on the market make it imperative for the grower to plant nothing 
but the best seed, of ideal type and quality, with early tendencies. 
It is evident from numerous comparative observations that the 
question of seed does not have so much influence in producing 
