AMERICAN BEAUTY DUSTER 
Carried like a 
knapsack and oper- 
ated by one man, the 
600 - cubic- inch bel- 
lows, operated by 
right hand, develops 
largest cloud and 
most powerful blast 
of any one man dust- 
er; power to drive 
cloud over 25-foot 
tree, or entirely 
through large citrus 
tree; volume to cover full grown, bush-type grape- 
vine at one blast; cloud under complete con- 
trol so no dust is wasted between plants or rows. 
A 30-inch, wire-inserted, flexible rubber hose per- 
mits direction of cloud with ease and at will; two 
18-inch lengths of tubing permit operator to reach 
low-growing plants without stooping; a spreader, 
when attached to the end of tubing, directs cloud 
up underneath low-growing plants. Entire top 
lifts off for easy filling and accessibility for repairs; 
all parts being interchangeable, worn or broken 
parts may easily be replaced by operator. Al- 
though we do not carry a complete stock of parts, 
we will be pleased to order parts for your machine 
if you will send us the number of the broken or 
wom out part with the model number of your 
machine. This Duster has a hopper capacity, 15 
pounds; net weight, 17/2 pounds; shipping weight, 
23 pounds. We have them at standard price, 
$32.50, prepaid. 
PLEASE NOTICE AND READ 
CAREFULLY 
On the pages to follow I have endeavored to 
outline land preparations, cultivation, fertilization 
and many other things that I have been asked 
questions about. However, in following these rules, 
you must remember to always take into considera- 
tion the amount of rainfall in your particular area 
as too much fertilizer and too much nitrate of soda 
will cause white hearted melons if you don't get 
the proper amount of moisture. It is far better to 
not have enough than it is to have too much and 
not have the moisture to take care of it. If your 
soil is heavy it will not take as much fertilizer, or 
maybe it is already rich and doesn't need as much. 
Be sure to bear this in mind when making prepara- 
tions and fertilizing. 
PRUNING 
The practice of pruning small melons from the 
vine is strongly recommended. This enables the 
vine to put its strength into sizing the individual 
melons and hastening maturity. Generally speak- 
ing the sooner the pruning is done, the better. 
This is usually when the melons are four to six 
inches long, always leaving the best and most uni- 
form shape melon. Some growers prune down to 
42 WILLHITE MELON SEED FARMS, Poolville, Texas 
a single melon, others leave two, three or four 
depending on the size they would like to produce, 
when they have ripened off, you can let others set 
on and always let a melon stay on the vine until 
it is ripe. Lots of money is lost by getting to anx- 
ious and cutting it before it is ripe. 
LAND PREPARATION AND 
FERTILIZATION 
Land should be plowed six or eight weeks in 
advance of planting because soil plowed just be- 
fore planting is likely to dry out and result in a 
poor stand. 
About two weeks before the seed are to be 
planted the furrows should be freshened, the rows 
layed off, and the fertilizer applied, using from 
100 to 200 pounds per acre, the amount depend- 
ing greatly upon the nature and fertility of your 
soil and the amount of rainfall received in your 
particular vicinity. Be sure to put your fertilizer 
deep enough in the ground that you will not plant 
directly in the fertilizer as very often this will kill 
the germination of your melon seed. 
The fertilizer should be applied evenly in the 
furrows rather than only at the check or hills, 
since watermelons produce an extensive root 
system, outward as well as the tap root going 
down six feet or more. The fine feeder roots are the 
length of the vines, for this reason you should be 
careful never to cultivate closer to the plant than 
the vine is long. 
After the seed are planted from one to three ap- 
plications of side-dressing should be applied. In 
early producing areas, three applications of side- 
dressing are applied as follows: 
1. At thinning time when 4 to 6 leaves appear— 
nitrate of soda at the rate of 1 to 2 tablespoonfuls 
per plant. 
2. When runners are about 2 feet long, apply 
nitrate of soda at the rate of 25 to 50 pounds to 
the acre. 
3. When melons are 10 to 12 pounds in weight, 
an 8-0-8 or similar grade of top dressing at the 
rate of 75 to 100 pounds per acre. This applica- 
tion can be put down the row middles since the 
root system will have a spread throughout the 
entire area by that time. 
CULTIVATION 
Watermelons should be cultivated much the 
same as other crops. Any implement may be 
used that will destroy the weeds and grass, re- 
membering always to cultivate shallow and not 
close enough to the plants to prune the roots. 
When the vines commence to run, they should 
not be disturbed by cultivation. Cultivation done 
after the vines have begun to run should be done 
between the rows and far enough away from the 
vines so that they will not be disturbed. 
It is always desirable to avoid working the vines 
when they are wet in order to keep the spread of 
fungous diseases at a minimum. 
Weatherford, Texas 
