14 
Slate's Good Seeds and Prompt Service, South Boston, Virginia 
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 deliciously 
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 require¬ 
ments 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 canta¬ 
loupe 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 became 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 Rocky¬ 
ford is of medium size, uniform shape, 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, 14 lb. 30c, lb. $1.00, postpaid. 
MOST PROFITABLE MELON 
Mr. J. F. Stephens, the largest melon grower 
in southern Virginia has used our First-On-The- 
Market melon since the first year it was intro¬ 
duced and since the second year, has used no 
other sort. Mr. Stephens says that this melon 
has made him more money than any he ever 
grew. 
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 prepared 
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, making 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 course 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 Rocky¬ 
ford. This melon has ideal size, good appearance, and 
real quality combined with extreme earliness, which 
make it the best extra 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 im¬ 
portance. 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, 14 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. 
Pkt. 5c, oz. 10c, 14 lb. 30c, lb. $1.00, postpaid. 
Ideal Rockyford 
