1884.] 
THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 
WATBE-MElOir EAISIITG. 
I have always done well in raising Water¬ 
melons; chiefly, I think, because I had just 
the ground essential to success—new land, 
from which timber had lately been removed,’ 
and the soil of a sandy, porous character. 
The decaying roots in ground lately occupied 
by timber insure perfect di-ainage, and I 
consider it next to useless to attempt to raise 
Water-melons on land not well drained. In 
the fii-st place, the earliest Melons not only 
bring the best pi-ices, but are best in both 
yield and quality, and you can start any crop 
much earlier on di'ained than on undrained 
land ; in the second place, although this is a 
very succulent fruit, wet is more damaging 
than drought, although droughtis destructive, 
and drained land is neither so wet in wet 
weather nor so dry in dry weather as uu- 
drained land. 
The best soil for Water-melons is, as I 
have said, a light, dry, sandy one. Such a 
soil is warm, and the Wateivmelon requires 
heat. It is also loose and light, and Water¬ 
melons never do well on a compact soil. If 
a hard rain compacts the gi-oimd it will 
greatly damage the crop. This is another 
reason why roots in the ground are 
■ advantageous—they keep it loose and 
friable. 
A southern slope may be desirable, 
but I have raised my best Melons on 
the brow of a very high hill, and bet¬ 
ter on a northern than on a southern 
slope ; why, I cannot say. It is con¬ 
trary to what I had anticipated. 
The earlier I can plant the better 
Melons I raise. In this latitude (the 
fortieth parallel) late planted Melons 
are liable to shrivel before maturing. 
Those that do mature lack the delicious 
flavor of those planted earlier. Melons 
are much more liable to shrivel and fall 
off on old land than upon new. 
I have settled down to putting the 
hills not more than six or seven feet 
aiiart each way. Put several seeds in a 
hill,- and, when the plants are well up, 
thin out to one to each hill, of course 
leaving the strongest and best. I lay 
off the hills by running fmTows with 
a broad, single diamond plow. I man¬ 
ure well in the hill, using hog manure. 
Any animal mamu’e will answer, but I con¬ 
sider hog manure the best. Never use stable 
or other manime not fully rotted; the fer¬ 
mentation is injurious. I have heard a 
compost of muck and chip-dirt highly recom¬ 
mended, but have never used it. The hill 
should be broad, and just even with the sm’- 
faee of the land. Drop the seeds and cover 
them to the depth of a couple of inches; not 
deeper. This makes the hill, when covered, 
a couple of inches higher than the surromid- 
ing, sm'face. I hoe a couple of times, but, 
after the vines begin to run, distarb them 
only enough to keep out the weeds. 
■ If the bugs, appear, I sprinkle the plants 
with soot or very fline wood-ashes, in the 
morning when the dew is on. This is gen¬ 
erally sufficient. At times I have mixed a 
liitle lime with the soot. 
One hint about marketing: Rub the Melons 
till clean and bright.- People like a nicer 
appearing Melon, and will pay more for, and 
buy more • quickly, a clean, polished Melon, 
than one dirty and dingy. It is the work of 
but a moment to rub it clean. 
John M. Stahl. 
83 
The ameeioan ohampion watee-melon, 
Our illustration shows the general appear¬ 
ance of this now variety of Melon, the many 
pod qualities of which recommend it highly 
for iprket as well as home use. 
It is a cross between the “ Rattle-snake ” 
and paly-bark« Melons. It is of very 
large size, averaging from twenty-five to 
ffity pounds in weight; shape, oval; skin, 
eprk peon, marbled; rind, very thin and 
m-m; flesh, sweet and of best quality; while, 
in carrying and sliip 2 )ing qualities, it is 
claimed to surpass all other varieties. 
OABBA&E OtJLTtJEE, 
Vegetables of all kinds require the best 
of culture to have them tender and succulent, 
but I do not know of any which require more 
thorough cultivation nor heavier feeding 
than Cabbage, Celery excepted. Amateurs 
and farmers often wonder why the profes¬ 
sional gardener can raise Cabbage so much 
superior to what they can jiroduee with even 
the best of attention. This is easily ex¬ 
plained ; their best attention is not thorough 
life 
iii 
AMERICAN CHAMPION WATER-MELON. 
enough to give that luxmiauce of gi’owth 
necessary to produce large, solid heads. 
As early in the spring as the ground is in 
proper condition, give a good coating of 
maniue, say three to four inches, spreading 
it evenly over the ground, then plow it in 
with a heavy f urrow, then pulverize -well by 
using some one of the excellent harrows now 
in use. (The "Acme ” is the best.) Unless 
the soil and manm'o are well mixed, and 
the large lumps are well broken up, full 
benefit cannot be derived. The large lumps 
of soil contain much plant-food sealed up, 
and, unless the seal is broken by crushing 
them by harrowing, rolling, or other modes 
of reducing the soil to a finely pulverized 
condition, a considerable part of nourish¬ 
ment remains unavailable to the rootlets of 
the plants. 
Early Cabbage, such as E. Jersey Wake¬ 
field, should be plantediu rows two feet and a 
half apart, and twenty inches between 
plants, care being taken to place the plants 
into the ground to the first leaf. When only 
a few himdred are to be planted, it is gen¬ 
erally cheapest for the amateur to. buy his 
plants of some reliable gardener. Where 
thousands are needed it -will be found more 
advantageous to raise them in a hotbed, as 
advised in previous numbers of The Ameei- 
OAN Garden. 
When the two first characteristic leaves 
are formed, transplant into another bed 
about two inches apart each way; do not 
allow them to get drawn, but give plenty of 
air on all suitable occasions, to induce a 
short, stocky gi-owth. Previous to planting 
into the open ground, have them well hard¬ 
ened off by full exposure night and day. 
Select a cloudy day for planting; it is not 
necessary that it be a rainy one, for if the 
plants have plenty of roots and the ground 
is well pulverized, there is but little danger 
of their dying. Keep the soil well stirred 
around the plants at all times after they are 
in the open gi'ound, especially after rain; 
this increases their gronrth wonderfully. 
The young plants are sometimes attacked 
by a small, black beetle (Haltica striolala). 
Last year they were so numerous and de¬ 
structive that, in some places, whole fields 
were completely destroyed by them; all 
kinds of remedies were applied with but 
little avail. One of my fields I saved by 
sowing some old Radish and Cabbage 
seeds alongside of the plants, to feed 
the beetles; then gave a good manuring 
around the roots of the plants with 
superphosphate of lime, and worked it 
into the soil. They soon left the large 
plants for the small seedling, and the 
stimulating effect of the phosphate 
made the old plants too large, and 
tough for them by the time they had 
the smaller ones eaten up; but the 
smell of the superphosphate in itseK 
seems to be repulsive to this insect 
pest. 
Another insect which we have to 
contend with is the Cabbage worm. It 
is generally not so very damaging to 
early Cabbages as to late ones, owing 
to the heads of the former getting well 
: hardened iq) before the butterfiies 
make them appearance. I have tried a 
good many remedies for this pest, but 
nothing has been so successful with me 
as the Persian Insect Powder, dusted 
on with small bellows. This powder is 
also good for destroying the aphis which fre¬ 
quently attacks Cabbage during dry weather. 
But, all considered, the best repellent of all 
insects injurious to Cabbage is to maintain 
a strong, -sdgorous growth by the use of 
plenty of manure and thorough cultivation. 
M. Milton. 
VEGETABLES IN GEAPEEIES, 
A reader suggests that the ground space 
in graperies, which he finds generally bare, 
be used for forcing vegetables. The difficulty 
in growing vegetables in graperies is that, 
when the vines start into growth, the interior 
of the house becomes too shaded for vegeta¬ 
ble growing; and previous to this, while the 
vines are kept dormant, it is too cold. 
Tomatoes require a great deal of sun to 
ripen, and, if they are to be grown in a grap¬ 
ery, we would advise to train them on stakes 
and cut back the side shoots severely, as, in 
the shaded position, there will be a strong 
tendency to develop foliage to the detriment 
I of fruit. 
! Spinach and hardy Lettuce sown in au- 
i tnmn do very well in graperies. 
