(OcdsUimsdontL. 
Give Watermelons Plenty of Room. 
One Plant 8 to 10 Feet Each Way. 
Market Growers' Prices, Page 90. 
Growing 
Watermelons 
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, depend¬ 
ing 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 disced in before plowing will increase the size and yield. 
If not under irrigation, plow the land in ridges by first throwing out a dead furrow, 
then back-furrowing into the dead furrow four or five furrows from each side. Some 
advocate no harrowing in windy sections, leaving the soil rough for the reason that 
vines cling to the ground and are not whipped about. 
Do most of the cultivating with the harrow, setting the teeth straight and cultivate 
deep. 
It is sometimes desirable to turn the ends of the runners when they begin to reach 
out across the row and give an extra cultivation. This should be done carefully so as 
not to damage the small melons. This sometimes results in a delay in the setting 
of fruit. 
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. About two pounds of seed is required per acre and 4 oz. to 100 hills. 
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. 
Some southern growers advocate the use of up to 700 lbs. of fertilizer per acre, 
analyzing about 8% phosphoric acid, 6% potash, 6% ammonia, preferably made from 
nitrate of soda; cotton seed meal, dried blood, super phosphate, muriate and sulphate 
of potash. Use two applications, applying % the amount before planting and the 
balance as a side dressing as the vines begin to run. 
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 indicates ripeness. 
Our Watermelon We have been growing Watermelon Seed since 1896 and 
c i while we grow a large acreage at the present time practically 
oeea all of it goes direct to planters, many of whom plant from 
20 to 100 acres or more each. We have watched the principal 
growing sections and the markets to know the varieties most in demand and those of 
the highest quality. 
Nearly all the old varieties have been dropped and in their places we offer new 
improved sorts of better quality, larger and better shippers. All of these are from 
critically selected stock seeds and each is grown well separated from any other variety 
to prevent mixing. 
Our 1904 catalog listed the popular varieties of that day. Kleckley Sweet is the 
only one of these listed in this catalog. It is one of the best for local market and 
home garden. The New Dixie Queen and the Stone Mountain are the best large nearly 
round shipping melons. Black Seeded Chilean is an excellent small round melon. 
Western shippers prefer Klondike, and we believe the day is not far distant when these 
small and desized high quality melons will be grown more in the south. Sugar content 
usually averages 3 or 4% more than such melons as Kleckley Sweet. Oregon uses the 
Striped Klondike a great deal and California the Early Small Black Seeded type and 
Brown Seeded. Southern growers should try Burrell’s Klondike; this is a large square 
ended strain of excellent quality. Burrell’s Grey and Burrell’s Red Heart Watson will 
please shippers requiring large, oblong shape melons. Burrell’s Grey is the best of the 
grey rind melons, and in our trials we have as yet found no strain of Tom Watson equal 
to our Red Heart Watson. 
48 
D. V. Burrell Seed Growers Co., Rocky Ford, Colo 
