Slate Seed Co., Seedsmen Since 1866, South Boston, Virginia 
13 
First-On-The-Market 
213— SLATE’S GOLD LINED NETTED ROCK. 
The market gardener who wishes to secure the top 
market prices, and the home gardener who wishes 
the sweetest, the most solid and the most delici¬ 
ously flavored melon, cannot do better than to get 
this one. It is a true Rocky Ford. It is free from 
deep ribs, has perfect netting and the ideal shape 
for shipping. It attains a good crating size and has 
all the requirements for a market melon. The flesh 
is green, with a thin golden lining next to the seed 
cavity. The thick, tender flesh is sweet and has a 
rich, luscious flavor. This melon is uniformly good 
and not like some varieties—good one season and 
tasteless the next. Of course, soil and weather 
conditions affect its quality, just as they do other 
sorts, but this one comes nearer to being always 
good than any cantaloupe we have ever seen. Its 
ripening habits are uniform. Practically every 
melon is of the same size. 
Pkt. 5c, oz. 10c, % lb. 30c, lb. $1.00, postpaid. 
214— IDEAL ROCKYFORD. — The Rockyford 
strain of melons has become very popular in the 
past few years and to meet this demand, we have 
selected what we consider the best of the Rocky- 
fords to represent our ideal of this type. Then we 
have the seed stock grown in one of the best pro¬ 
ducing sections of the world by a man who has 
made a lifetime study of this particular kind of 
seed. Thus when we named this our Ideal, it be¬ 
came more than a name, because it represents the 
best that we can give in the Rockyford type of 
melon. It is not extra early but of the main crop, 
producing about two weeks later than our First- 
On-The-Market, which is the best of the Early 
Rockyfords. The Ideal Rockyford is of medium 
size, uniform shaue, moderately ribbed and covered 
with heavy netting. The flesh is thick with only 
a small seed cavity, of a green at the skin, shading 
to a thin orange lining at the seed. We consider it 
one of the sweetest and best melons. 
Pkt. 5c, oz. 10c, % lb. 30c, lb. $1.00, postpaid. 
BEAUTIFUL ROSES 
The finest of the newer sorts and many of 
the old kinds that have been so popular are 
listed on page 34. Every Rose lover can now 
have a garden of beauties at a most reason¬ 
able, cost. Turn to page 34 and find out about 
these two-year-old field-grown rose bushes. 
. .v ..i ; a.taoa ■ ■'. - ■ . ■ . 
Cantaloupes 
Cantaloupes are very tender and should not be 
planted in the open ground until the weather be¬ 
comes warm. However, extra early crops may be 
produced by starting the seed in trays, window 
boxes or paper pots and resetting the plants. A light 
rich sand loam is the best soil. Hills should be pre¬ 
pared four feet apart each way. Chop a handful of 
manure or fertilizer into the top of each hill, and 
plant the seed six to ten in each hill, covering them 
one inch deep. After the first two or three leaves 
of the plant have taken on their shape, thin to three 
plants per hill. Give frequent shallow cultivation 
until the vines begin to spread over the hill, mak¬ 
ing further cultivation impossible. 
206— FIRST-ON-THE-MARKET. —It is a salmon 
flesh melon of the Rockyford type, larger than the 
Rockyford and showing less ribs. Its shape is 
similar to the Rockyford but slightly less blunt at 
the ends. The netting is coarse and heavy. Its 
flesh is thick, spicy, tender, and very sweet and 
there are no other extra early melons that combine 
these good qualities. The vines are vigorous and 
productive and mature their fruit some two weeks 
earlier than the Rockyford. This melon has ideal 
size, good appearance, and real quality combined 
with extreme earliness, which make it the best ex¬ 
tra early variety for either home or market. This 
introduction of ours fills a real need, because all of 
the very early melons offered in the past have been 
of very poor quality and when we saw that we had 
something as early as the earliest and as good as 
the Rockyford, we realized its importance. Any 
grower can build a steady patronage on this melon, 
because it is in demand throughout the season. 
There is no slump in the sales of First-On-The- 
Market when the Rockyfords come on the market. 
And for the home garden, we do not know of a 
better combination than this melon and Gold Lined 
Netted Rock. These two are the last words in high 
quality and give a succession throughout the season. 
Pkt. 5c, oz. 15c, % lb. 45c, lb. $1.35, postpaid. 
210— HALES BEST. — This is a new melon that 
has attracted a great deal of attention from the 
western melon growers. It is claimed that it is 
one of the most profitable varieties of modern 
times. The fruit is larger than a Rockyford but 
of the same general type. Flesh is a salmon color, 
sweet, spicy, and of far better quality than the 
average market melon. 
Pt. 5c, oz. 10c, 14 lb. 30c, lb. $1.00, postpaid. 
Ideal Rocky Ford 
