The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1905-04-14
ROCKY FORD MUSKMELONS.
A Fine Development of the NettIed
Gem Variety.

Fine Development of the Nettled
Gem Variety.
The Rocky Ford muskmelon. which
Is now so extensively sold in the mar.
kets Of the United States, is simply the
! Nettled Gem variety as selected and
! improved by growers in the region of
Rocky Ford, in the Arkansas valley.
Colo. where they are grown under
irrigation and where otherwise ideal
conditions apparently exist for the pro-
ducti0n Of melons of the highest quail
| ity. The Rocky Ford variety is now
grown extensively in other parts Of
the United States. and probably a
large proportion of the melons sold in
eastern markets under this name are
derived from this source or are simply
the ordinary Nettled Gem produced by
local growers. The true Rocky Ford
melon Goes not come into the market
in any quantity before the middle of
August.
The method OF growing the Rocky
Ford melon in the Arkansas valley is
described by II. H. Griffin substantial
ly as follows: The melon requires a
deep, warm, sandy loan soil well sup
piled with humus. In comparative
tests by the Colorado station Of alfalfa
sod and cropped land MANFRED with
well "otted barnyard manure or bone
mel applied in the hill the best re-
sulia ere obtained on the alfalfa sod
IT, RI, case the product was nearly
Co..'.l. the quality was better and
tie "A.lity to resist fungous troubles
cr'ef r. Alfalfa sod brought maximum
retnl!a and in turn the melon easily
srh'lrel the alfalfa and put the land
In sr,cndid condition for succeeding
crops.
The land is prepared by rather deep
blowing, narrowing and leveling. Fur
rows are then run with a shovel pillow
from six to seven feet, and the seed is
planted by the side Of the furrow in
hills from five to six feet apart in the
rows. Planting is done from the 1st to
the 10th Of May. The carefully select.
ed seed (ten to fifteen to each hilD is
planted not over an inch deep. Seed is
terminated by running the irrigation
water into the burrows and allowing II
to reach the seed by being drawn up
through the soil (sublrrigation, as it is
termed. When the plants have fou,
leaves they are thinned to three in each
hill. At this time the permanent irri
eating burrows are run, and cultivation
ceases, except such hoeing as is needed
to keep down weeds.
Dear Mrs. MalaprOp
There is generally somebody-a lads
as u rule-in each district on whom
Its finest Malaprops are fathered, some
times quite unfairly 1t is she who is
reported to have made that speech
about the glories of her fathers house,
up to the door of which there ran
revenue Of popular trees" she who
asked her daughter to play that little
"malady" she had learned at the "cem.
etery" and she again who pronounced
Mr.. Brown as proud as Luther"
while the tuft hunting Mr. Smith was
such toby" he deserved to be "tat.
tooed" at his club. Dear Mrs. Mala-
prop, what should we do without herr
Canada and the Canoe.
Abolish the canoe and Canada might
have war every five years and thea
lose fewer young men than the great
number that must go down to death in
ten years of summer holidays 1t is
pitiful the mothers who weep, the IA.
theirs who mourn and the homes that
are darkened simply because young
people will take chances that they
have no business to take. Death may
part the young man from his canoe.
Good advice cannot. "Ephraim is joined
to his IDOLS" and the victims of the
canoe habit will neither keep out Of
canoes nor be careful while they are
In canoes.--TorontO Talaxram-