Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1844-02-23

,ver which the seed should be scattered, from
'orty to fifty in number, and covered with a ,
quantity of soil 10 produce germi- $
nation, and no more. prefer the seed be-. s
ing soaked in warm water, and kept n,o;s, 4
they begin to sprout, before planting ;
care should be taken to cover with no, more
drt than will ensure their coming up, as the
Of the stems from the roots to the first
are always heightened or contracted
in proportion to the depth of soil through
which they have 10 pass in coming up, and
stem being the tender part of the plant,
upon which almost all the mischief is done
by the worm and other insects, Of course it
should be as much contracted as possible.
So soon as the plants begin TO come up, gen.
orally the surface of the hills should be loos-
ened up with the finger, taking away the
crust from the hills, and leaving the plants 10
take ROOF dOwnwards, so that in the course of
some three weeks, at intervals, a portion of
dirt taken away will leave none of the dirt
with which the seed was first covered re-
naming, and which will leave all of the stem
exposed from its leaves TO the branching
roots. This particular process is the great
secret IN Watermelon raising, as it is on this
part OF the vine that the small, white, red
headed worm does its mischief. Care should
be taken, however, not to remove the dirt
too speedily, as it will retard the growth of
the vine, and in very dry weather, If too
speedily removed, will very materially injure
them; in wet weather the taking away of
the dirt is less apt to i%njure the vine, aud the
worm much apter to do harm. During this
tvorkinu tho hills .y;tl, Tia e,-.. ..l:.l. =
all that is necessary for two or three weeks
after planting, the vines should be ,hinned at
each working, taking out those with the lon
gest stems and least thrift, till you have re.
duced to three in each hill !; the number, how
ever, should not be reduced to less than four
or FIVE, till they have run from a foot 10 eigh.
teen inches, for until then, they can hardly,
in ordinary seasons, be considered safe from
the ravages of the worm, and in very wet
seasons, never safe, but must, every week or
ten days, be worked about the root with the
finger, or the worm will kill them after the
ground is literally covered with vines. The
niger work is soon performed, as one hand
may go over an acre of vines in two hours,
which should always be done in the evening.
at which time, and early in the morning, the
worm may be destroyed, as it generally de-
scends into the cool, moist earth, in the warm
part of the day. | much prefer working
vines always late in the evening, as the iniu-
ry done them will not be made worse by the
warm sunshine, but will have the benefit of
the dew OF the night to recruit them. The
Watermelon vine is at all ages a very tender
plant, and should be handled MS little as DOS
sible ; they should be kept emit, ely clean of
weeds and grass care should be taken not
to chop the ground too deep about the run
ming vines, and particularly nearer the roots
than the points of the vines, for of all the
roots that grow, those Of the melon vine are
the most numerous and extensive, which, if
cut, will always bleed freely, and lnjure the
vine. | have traced them to the distance of
20 feet without finding the end.
The next mischievous insect to that of the
worm, is the small yellow bug, against the
ravages of which have succeeded by plant
ing three hills in a careless manner, around
the first planted the first of which should
be planted in about one week, the second in
two, and the third in about three weeks after
the first planting. SO soon as these repIants
begin to come up, the bugs lei on
them, and leave the first planted, preferring
to feed on the young, tender plants ; care
should be taken to destroy all these plants,
to prevent their mixing with the good stock.
You have no doubt observed that vines
never do well in very wet weather, and when
you have taken great pains to put nice moist
dirt about the root of the vine which seemed
to be whitening, instead of its recovering, it
only seems to hasten its death the cause
is, It furnishes moisture for the worm TO re-
pose in, which is its natural element; and If
you will take the pains TO examine about the
roots ofthe vine thus whitening, yon will find
hundreds Of little holes and wounds, and in
some instances you will find the worm in
hablting the inside of the vine, near the root.
have tried many experiments in order to
drive away the worm. by the application OF
snlpher, SCOT, ashes, tobacco, drugs, solu-
tons of herbs, &C., but all to no purpose ;
the only remedy is by working away the
dirt from the root, as | have before describ-
ed, and which, if property done, the vine, by
the time the melons begin to ripen, will have
formed "A trunk between the branching roots
and first leaves, (as | have often SEEM as
large as IA mans finger, and the branching
roots, some four or five in number, rs large
as a mans little finger, which will prove
sufficient to keep the vines alive and bear
ing, till they are killed by the frost.
consider the selecting of seed a very i'm
porlant item. ! have had quite "A fine melon
crop this season, and in order to prove to my
friends the great difference in seed. | plant.
ed two rows with inferior seed, which had
been saved for replanting /; the consequence
was, that these rows had comparatively no
melons on them, while the vines we're quite
as fine, and promised as we'll as any part of
the patch.
The saving of your seed should be from
the first crop, which is always found on the
main vine, and often as near The roo, as two
or three feet. select the melon most like
the original stock, with the largest blossom
end, which is an evidence of its thrift, while
one that is large at the stem and tapering to
the blossom, shows a want of nourishment