Thin Watermelons to One Plant 8 to 10 Feet Apart 
Each Way 
WATERMELONS 
Plant About Two Pounds of Seed Per Acre 
CULTURE —To successfully grow watermelons it is absolutely 
necessary to have good seed. Then select proper soil and give it 
proper cultivation and irrigation (if under irrigation) and if not 
prepare the land to drain off or retain the moisture, depending upon 
whether you get much or little rain-fall, and the results are usually 
very good. 
Select a well-drained sandy loam; new sod land is best; any good 
loamy soil which is well drained is good. 
If under irrigation run large furrows 8 feet apart and plant the 
hills well up on the border 8 to 10 feet apart. Be careful not to 
irrigate too often. 
Watermelons are lovers of drouth and the finest melons are 
grown under semi-arid conditions. 
Plow deep and harrow well to make a fine seed bed. A liberal 
coat of. stable manure disked in before plowing will increase the 
size and yield. 
If not under irrigation, plow the land in ridges by first throw¬ 
ing out a dead furrow, then back-furrowing into the dead furrow 
four or five furrows from each side, and after thoroughly harrowing 
plant on the center of the ridge. 
Do most of the cultivating with the harrow, setting the teeth 
straight and cultivate deep. 
Keep a fine mulch on the surface and do not let any weeds grow. 
Plant ten to twelve seeds to the hill and thin to one plant when 
they have five to six leaves. 
If you use commercial fertilizer mix it thoroughly with the 
soil around the hill, but do not leave any lumps under the hills 
where the first roots will reach it, or it will burn the roots and 
check the growth if not kill the plant. 
Do not plant on land where melons were grown before, even if 
four or five years before, if you have other good land. The vines 
remove something from the soil not readily replaced, and following 
crops usually produce deformed melons with black ends or shriveled 
ends, even from the best of seeds, while the same seed on adjoining 
land, where melons have not been grown before, will produce large 
melons of the finest quality. 
Do not press on melons to see if they are ripe. This injures 
them and results in very poor melons. A slight thump with the 
finger, if the sound rings clear and a high tone, indicates a green 
melon; if a hollow, low tone, or rather dead tone, the melon is ripe. 
Usually the curl where the melon attaches to the vine dies when 
the melon is ripe. By a little practice you can tell by the color. 
A bright, growing color indicates a green melon; a dull green in¬ 
dicates ripeness. 
Photo of Btirrell’s Improved Kleekley Sweet—Taken Over 
Twenty-five Years Ago 
We reproduce this picture so that you can see the fine melons 
we grew then and are glad to say they are better now. We select 
the finest each year from which to grow our seed crop. 
46 D. V. Burrell Seed Growers Co., Rocky Ford, Colorado 
