The Ordway new era., 1909-02-05
FARM NOTES

tduhdlhhlt llHts ~ hAe aA'H"' 'f''N
new TO Us, are well worth our cOnsid-
Grafton. Probably his method would
do away with our "blight" so prevalent
last year. One OF our most successful
growers at Ordway tells me the meth
I'd is great success, not only In
Colorado but In other cantaloupe
regions. Mr. Myser says:
The next thing to consider is the
thorough preparation Of the soil,
which means deep plowing in the fall
NJ the year Cif po>Siblcl and worked
down 50 no large Jumps are left stick
Ing up, thereby helping the condition
by which nature aerates the sril In
winter, preparing II suitably 10 receive
the seed in spring. In the spring,
soon as frost j. out, surface work your
ground with disc or other suitable
tool and puIycriZe every clod before
planting, and do not forget that c.ud
OF dirt has less utility than stone.
Plant your seed as early as consistent
with the season, allowing from nine
to fourteen days for the seed u germ
mate and come up. Now listen. Have
your rows six feet apart and put your
seed In with a seed drill, and drill
them deep enough to cover /: inches
below the press wheel. Set your drill
so aS to drop one seed about every six
inches, to insure good stand. After
the plant comes up, thin them out
with hoe to one plant TO the foot
Now, cultivate them soon as possible,
even before they are out OF the ground,
and smooth your ground each time
after cultivation to help retain the
moisture. as To irrigate at this time is
a dctriment To the full development
Of both the root and plant. They
should be cultivated once each week
until they commence to vine, at which
time this work should cease. Guilt
vate deep the first time, and let all
cultivating be done with narrow
tOOthed implement. Cultivate more
shallow each time until at last you
are only working the surface to a
depth of one inch. This is done to
prevent cutting the roots, as they get
longer very rapidly, and run nearly as
far latcrally through the ground as
the vines do on top.
Now, another very important feature
Jf the cantaloupe industry is to get
them uniform in size and a full crop
without any waste, 50 you will get
money for everything you grow. In
order to do this, observe the following
rules. Do not allow more than four
az cantalOupcs to one plant, and when
they have set on, get a thin steel
"jabber" made about l.! inches wide.
which will cost about fifteen cents,
and Will last lifetime. Attach this
To broom handle, keep it very sharp
by carrying a small file with you, and
when the blossoms have fallen lbut
not befure) cut the vines off, leaving
the four on each plant, and the result
will be that you will have all fine
commercial cantaloupes and nothing
gone To waste.
When one gets accustomed to using
this ''jabber." he can prune from
three-eighths to one half acre per day.
as no STOPPING will be required, and
the work is easy and rapid.
In making your burrows for irrigat-
ing be careful not to make them too
deep, so as not to cut the roots. This
should not be done until absolutely
necessary, which, under proper care
and cultivation in ordinary seasons.
would not be until about the time
they commenced to vine. However.
II cultivation and other things are
neglected as above stated, it will be
necessary to irrigate at an earlier
date. After you commence to irrigate
you must keep it up moderately. not
too much nor too little, but keep
uniform dampness In the soil and not
too wet. Now, another thing. Do
not irrigate In the heat of the day. II
you do, you will scorch the leaves and
vines and bring about what is COM
monty called rust or leaf blight
which will materially lessen your crop
and destroy the sweetness and flavor
of your cantaloupe.
Now, If you will plant as above
stated (Which is the only practical
method of melon culture), you will
have 1880 plants on an acre, and from
this amount deduct 10 per cent. for an
imperfect stand, which leaves you
1884 plants to the acre. Now, If you
prune them to four to the plant, you
will have 21,136 cantaloupes to the
acre and at 81 to the crate they will
make 4S4 crates to the acre of first
class cantaloupes."
This estimate may seem fabulous to |
us as we thought 600 OF our flat crates