The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1882-09-30
A MONSTER wATKRlGMoN
The Remarkable Patch Which .
Georgia Farmer 10 Quilt.
waiting.

= STONE MOUNTAINS, August 3.-A
Z q general thing, Il b . dinleult ma
: ter "a send . ripple across the Diac1
bosom Of this quiet c0nlmonity, b
just now there IL visible simmer
excitement and expectancy. job
, Miller, the ''boes watermelon raiser,
has melon which will be ripe b
Saturday, aud which for size 10 81
pected t. eclipse all his former pr
! lluctiOns and take the cake from tn
> whole State. The melon issax weet
old and has grown to an enOrnI0u
size, and fas not yet called . bait
; It now wei3hs over sixty-five pound
and 1t IL expected that by tine time !
ripens It will weigh over seventy
and It may go over seventy-nve
The melon IL Of the 'Cuban Queen.
variety and is short and square shont
dered. In appearance II resemble:
the rattlesnake melon except that u
h not ~ ''long drawn OUT" being
shorter and longer around. The
LARGEST watermelon that Mr.. AlI!eI
has ever raised heretofore waS . SIX
ty-four FOUNDER, which was raised q
year or two ago, and which, when
cut into sections like . barrel hoop
and the pulp removed, lett . rtnd
through which the body Of large
man could easily be slipped. In
fact, your correspondent saw Nj.
Miller slip . section Of the rind over
his head end lody. This feat was
easily accomplished, ait lough ME:
Miller weighs In the netghborhood Of
10 pounds. The next largest that ne
ever raised was sixty.two pound
melon, which was raised in the year
preceding that In which the sixty
i0vr pound melon was raised: This
steady Increase In the size Of his brag
melons. from sixty two to probable
seventy-five pound melon, leads one
to wonder where the end will l'e.
Your correspondent asked MI. Mil
Ter to give him the secret Of hts sue
cess. Taking tine scribe by the arm
he led him into the patch. where the
vines ran in every direction anu the
bees buzzed about the yellow blooms
while the i,,x melons looked lazy as
their acks xtreaked with green and
yellowish white, lay upturned {" the
sun. The ground was covered with
straw, and the finest melons were |
Just visible through the straw that
was piled about them to hide them
from the burning rays of the August
sun. Beside each Of the largest mel
0ns were sticks stuck into the ground
to show how fast the melon was |
grOwing and when il had stopped
Rrowin0-an evidence that It was
ripe. As Mr., Miller passed through
The patch he reached down aud
pulled q shabby looking specimen
about twice the size Of \ mans head.
The newspaper imam noticed, also,
hat there quite . number OF the
mailer melons lying around loose In
he patch, and accordingly inquired
he cause. of such an apparently wan
on destruction Of melons.
az get two melons to the vine
I'M satisfied" replied Mr.. Miller. II
~ to make my vines bring me an
Iverage OF two melons, hut will not
AXE even two ut the sacrifice Of their
ize. ] pulled that melon because It
, dwarlish. 1t would never I've any
hing itself, but it would damage the
'ig mellon you see over there near
he root Of the vine. believe in the
U vival Of the fittest, therefore the
~ melons must 20 to the wall.
lou asked me about the secret Of my
uccess. There Is no secret abrlt II.
rle old farmers hake their heads
ud say there IL some secret about
ny way Of cultivatiOx my crOlse, but
tell you II there. II any secret 1t Is
he secret Of hard work and cOniniO
eilse. 80 into this piece Of ground
. plant my melon patch, and I dig
he holes ten feet aimrt and about
line inches deep. Int, eacl, hole,
vlich | make about two or three
ret across, l put n shovel;ul Of stable !
manure. then ~ around the hole
ritl, my shovel and throw in the top
artll, which ! thoroughly mix up
nth the manure In the hole. Then
plant the seed, AMI when the vines .
pn.e ~ / prune them and take care
them in u careful, sensible sort OF
ny. l know when Il vine needs ,
running h. its appearance, but ! s
DulJ not slsscrilx, 1t to you to save
~ life. IsiMpiy know it and that's .
,e end If It. know this much,
lat II you prune u vine when il I
Des not need It you injurc il, and il :
M .lO not prune 1t when 1t needs 1t
will I've injured, That Is all I can L
II you. 1t Is . secret that will have I
he learned l,y actual experience,
nj | could not teach 1t to you in 4 d
wen years. unles. | could show you
'e vines when they need pruning.
hen as told you, pull til" sorry
elOns and throw them away, ~
at they will not he u useless drain {
! the vines.'' {.
"D' YOU ship melons away =
II sell all INV melons right here at il
one Mountain. What is the use :,
shipping n,elf ns when / can take =!
EN- down the street here and sell u
en- ut from ~ cents to II apiece: u
Dung man, let mt give YOU u secret
ut II secret. can tell you how / ~
II my melons for three or four
mes u much as other people get Tor *
eir's. People like anything that
'ks nice. Therefore, whcn l pull III
nice n,elOns-!ny hlUOtle,l i.leiODs
u may say pack them stem ~
wnwarsl into my wagon boly as al
X rs one will gO in with just one
Ter. pack fresl, looking straw !e
the bOttOni and around the sides III
d on top, and when l drive my
|m int" town my melons look fine IL
they liz in the wagon body like o .'v
= In . case. never let man or IN
y touch one of them. II n man IN
lics up to buy melon, l let him III
X at them and pick out the one m
It he wants. and I sell 1t to him, "a
arantceing 1t to I've all right, and |
" never yet had one brought
* to ME. "-(vrr. .itl0Htu (o"xti-
iOa. ~.