I HOUSE AND GARDEN I 
March, 1910 
109 
Defender is one of the best 
colored-flesh mid-sea- . • ,. , 
son varieties Banquet is a comparatively 
small round mid-season 
melon 
for a hill, it is well to use 
four or five seeds to allow for the failure of some 
to germinate. 1 f more than two grow, they should 
be pulled out to give the others a better chance. 
The boxes are then placed in south windows 
or, if there are very many, in a hotbed. Each box, it will be seen, 
is a miniature hotbed, so very little extra manure will be needed 
in the ordinary hotbed. If manure to a depth of six or eight 
inches is placed on the bottom of a hotbed, there will be no dan¬ 
ger of freezing. The boxes are placed directly on the manure. 
A coldframe, with the required amount of manure, will answer 
just as well, for the plants will only need an eight or ten inch 
space between the top of the boxes and the glass. 
By utilizing a storm sash from the house, a suitable hotbed 
may be readily made with boards a foot or more in width. It is 
not necessary to make a deep pit in a hotbed for this purpose. 
After the boxes are placed in the hotbed or in the window, 
as the case may be, they should be given a liberal watering. 
Except for watering and ventilating no further attention will be 
necessary until the plants are ready to transplant. At this time 
the only point to be observed is to avoid over-watering. The 
manure at the bottom of the box will hold a large quantity of 
water, and, although the soil may seem dry on top, the plants 
should not be watered unless they should begin to wilt. On 
bright sunny days the temperature under the glass is likely to go 
too high, and to avoid this, the sash should be raised a few inches 
at the higher side of the frame. Later in the season it should be 
removed entirely on warm days. 
The time for sowing the seed varies in different sections, but 
as a rule it should be done about five weeks before planting time. 
In the North it is sown about the middle of April. The important 
point is to sow the seed just early enough to have the plants at 
the early running stage at planting time, or when all danger of 
frost has passed. 
Another method is to plant the seed on inverted sod, cut in 
squares of about six inches on a side and placed in the hotbed. 
After dropping the seeds on the sod, about a half-inch of soil is 
spread over them and they are then watered. The sods may 
then be handled in much the same way as the boxes, but the 
latter are decidedly more convenient. 
TRANSPLANTING 
The warmest, lightest and best drained soil in the garden 
should be selected for melons. If there is nothing but heavy clay 
soil in the garden and if only a few hills of melons are required, 
the soil may be improved by mixing with it a few shovelfuls of 
sand to each hill. If some well rotted stable manure is available, 
The Superior is a late crop 
green-flesh variety 
Eden Gem is a favorite 
green-flesh variety 
Among the late crop varieties one 
of the best is Osage 
a forkful may be 
placed under every hill or mixed with the soil. 
When the ground is ready, the plants are 
watered and taken to the garden in the boxes. 
The boxes are torn off without disturbing the 
roots and the block of earth holding the plants 
is set into the ground. By transplanting in this way, the plants 
receive no setback and continue to grow unaffected by the change 
in location. Melons are usually planted in hills, six or seven feet 
apart each way. The vines may be kept within bounds by 
“pinching back” the runners. 
Further treatment in the garden consists simply of keeping 
the soil well stirred up around the hills. If really fancy specimens 
are desired, it would be well to place the developing melons on 
shingles and turn them over occasionally. 
THE BEST VARIETIES 
There are probably one hundred distinct varieties of muskmel- 
ons catalogued by seedsmen in this country and many of these 
varieties are known in commerce by several entirely different 
names. With such a maze of names and with such meager cata¬ 
logue descriptions, the grower usually finds it difficult to make 
selections. 
For early use the well known variety Emerald Gem is the 
favorite. This variety has a smooth skin, colored flesh and a 
rich musky flavor. For those who prefer a green-flesh early 
variety, the Eden Gem is recommended. The latter variety is 
also known as Buskirk and Sweet Air. 
For midseason, there are a great many choice varieties. Prob¬ 
ably the best among the colored-flesh sorts are Grand, Banquet, 
Christiana, Defender, and Paul Rose. The last two are very 
similar, but the Defender has the advantage in having a thinner 
rind. The largest of these is the Christiana, followed by the 
Grand. The variety Banquet is a small round melon, beautifully 
netted and of high quality. Banquet, Defender and Paul Rose are 
about the right size for cutting in halves when serving. For 
green-flesh varieties may be mentioned Pineapple, Nutmeg, 
Cosmopolitan and Jersey Belle. 
For the late crop the best varieties are Osage and Burrell 
Gem among colored-flesh varieties, and Montreal and Superior 
among green-flesh sorts. The Montreal is very large and, when 
well grown, will weigh from fifteen to twenty pounds. 
American seedsmen offer somewhere near a hundred varieties 
of muskmelons, and every year foreign varieties are being added 
to American lists. Therefore the enthusiastic melon gardener 
has an opportunity of making as many experiments as he 
choses, in addition to the “tried and true” varieties in his pre¬ 
vious experience. 
