The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-04-20

hand garden pillow, open furrow In the
top of this bed and drop the seed In
| thick and cover them about an inch deep.
Thin out as the plants grow until finally
| leaving one every four feet. Remember
am speaking now of watermelons; can
teloupes do not require SD much room.
The main thing In growing watermelons
| for the market is to get good. strong,
| healthy vines just as early in the season
| as possible. Now this can not be done
| only by having the land made loose ana
| light as well as well drained. Where
| the surface of the soil is cold and wet.
or ever where the sub-soil is full OF water
| it will be i'm possible to grow good melons
! followed the business of growing water
melons for seed for several years. and [
always made a fine crop. And l will here
relate my experience with the last crop
| of melons l raised. The land selected
was fine soil, dark sandy loan, though
| very fertile sano, but with a good porous
clay sub-soil. This land was fairly good
| for corn and potatoes, but constant Gull
| tivation in these crops for ten years had
| greatly reduced its fertility; in fact, the
| land was tired and needed rest or a
change to other crops l secured the land
| late, having to rent 1t, and so had no
| opportunity For preparing 1t early or for
| fertilizinG it. But l got 1t well plowed,
| ana Well pulVerized and II fine condition
| every way for Planting, only | was fear
| tul that the land was not rich enough
| to produce such a crop as l should like
to grow. A few days after l got the seed
| planted | CHANGED to be at a neighbors
| close by and l noticed that mis- farm yard
was covered with fine, well-rotted man
| ure, great piles of it PILED Up out of the
| way SO that he could get to- the barn
| doors. When l asked him why he did
not haul it out and spread on his land,
ne replied that 1t did rot need it. said the
land was rich enough without 1t, and
went to say that If you believe so
strongly in manure, you may have that
yard for The hauling OF 1t out and getting
1t cut of my way. Now, this was a
chance I could not afford to let go by,
vet, as it was right II. the busy planting
season and every team needed in the field
l could hardly Sc e how l was to spare the
| time to haul this manure out, and besides
the question where and how could ! use
| it at this late date, for nearly all my
| CROPS were then planted and there was no
unbrokeE land to haul 1t out upon. While
| thinking it over, that field Of watermel-
ems came in my mind, but the time to
| haul it was the next question. But, as
| luck would have 1t, the very next day an
| old man moved in the neighborhood who
came depending on getting work for him
| self and team. He had good team, and
| being IN rather destitute circumstances
| was willing to work at anything for pres
! ent relief so hired him to haul out that
| manure on to my field of melons. The
rows were ten feet apart, so he could
| easily drive in bet ween the rows. l had
| the manure piled in small piles right be-
| tween the rows. This manure / worked
into the soil gradually. Every time I
cultivated thu field, 1 spread on a small
supply sc thai ty the time the vines met
4 across the middle, the manure had all
been worked in. Tho experiment proved
| a grand SUCCESS, and never before or
| since have l seen so fine a crop of melons.
| The whole land was literally covered with
| the most uniform in size melons ] ever
| Saw. Then, too tho quality was the best
| l ever saw We kept no account of the
| amount of melons, but l never saw such
a crop of melons before. I was growing
the melons exclusively for seed, and all
the country around would come and eat
| melons. We would take a day hauling
them in, and then invite all to come and
eat. All that 1 required was that they
| scrape the seed out in barrels pre- pared
| for them
Now there was another important lesson
| learned from this experiment. which was
| that the vines remained green and kept
blooming and bearing fruit until killed by
| frost. Now, rs to plnchirg of TIE ends
|
| nothing whatever to be gained Ivy the
| practice. 1 was reading from an eminent
| agriculturalist the statement that unless
| the ends of the vines were pinched off
that there would be little or no fruit l
| was surprised to see such a statement in
| print. and 1t shows that the writer was
| no watermelon grower. I nave always
| BEEN IL successful watermelon grower,
| never failed on a crop and | nevr yet
| ad vino t,f,ax IaI -
| on a few hills for experiment. There Is
| one thing that will be remembered for
| by hundreds of people which will be for
| the many fine waterpelons | furnished
| them free. This Is row time for plant
| Ing melons in this section, and ] have
| been requested to treat the subject of
| growing melons at some length and to
| exrlain why there are so many failures.
A great many PEOPLE think that there Is
| a secret about growing melons and that
only favored few possess this secret
| This Is great misteke for there is no
| secret about 1t. The thing is to know
| the habits of growth of the vines, what
kind Of soil to plant them on. when and
| how to work and. above all. to have the
| Willingness to perform the work neces
! sary to make their growth a success. II
the reader has plan by which ne has
| been growing melons successfully and Il
/
| this, which Is intended for those who do
not or have not made success of the bus
| mess, and who are asking for help. Then
| too, there is another thing about melon
I growing that / wish to mention and that
Is the moon question. Should the moon
have any influence in the matter, shen [
have been quite fortunate in getting all
my crops planted just when the moon
| was right; and that, too. by chance in
| otead Of by almanac. There are several
| insects that are very destructive to young
/ melon vines. one Of the " orst being a
/ small wire-like worm that works On the
roots of the vines. A good supply of to-
| bacco ,lust should be used around the
| vines right from the start. If good, fine
| SCOT from flies where wood alone is used
| can be secured. mix with this the tobacco
dust about equal parts and apply. This
stimulates the growth as Well IS protects
| the vines from many insects. Now. few
words about varieties This is somewhat
a matter of taste. and the grower must
depend or be governed in This matter by