The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1912-03-07
GROW|NG OF CUCURB|Ts
GoURD CROPS SHOULD NOT BE
PLANTED UNTIL WARM
WEATHER.
BY Or. J. G. Written, Professor Of
Horticulture, University
Of Missouri.

The cucurbits, including cucum
bers, canteloupes, melons, ETC., have
similar requirements and are all cul
tivated very much alike. They re
quire light, mellow, warm soil. A
sandy loan is best. If grown in &
heavy clay loan it must contain
much vegetable matter to make II
loose and spongy. They are fairly
rank feeders, and the soil should be
rich. Indeed, much of the damage
done by insects and diseases will not
be noticeable if these plants have
enough soil fertility to keep them
growing rapidly from the start. On
the other hand, grown in a poor soil
so the plants are weak, it is almost
impossible to keep them free from
under is an excellent place for these
vine crops.
AS rule, land should not be plant
cd to any of the plants OF the gourd
family for more than one year in sue
cession. This is particularly true of
watermelons. If watermelons are
planted more than one year in sue
cession, the grower rarely ever gets
profitable crops. Growing plants of
the gourd family, then, should be
part of a general farm rotation, grow
ing single crop of the gourds, and
following with a crop OF corn, wheat,
or clover Farmers are finding a
good rotation to be melons or one of
the gourd group, corn, wheat, clover,
and then melons again.
The land should be plowed in the
fall if possible. 1t should be har-
rowed and worked carefully in the
sprin. from the time it becomes
workable until the melons or other
gourd crops are planted. This will
kill most OF the weeds and will set
tie the soil fine and compact below.
leaving good seed bed on top. The
cheapest cultivation that can be CIV
en- such crop is the disking and har-
rowing OF the soil by way of prepara-
ton before the crop is planted.
None of the gourd crops should be
planted until the weather and soil
are warm, as none of them will stand
the frost. Ordinarily in this state
they may be planted during the last
half of April or very early in May.
They are usually planted in check
rows; the distance varying from or
6 feet apart each way for cucumbers
to 8 or II feet apart for melons. Per
haps the most convenient method is
to cross furrow the land at the dis
tances suggested above. Where the
burrows cross, the hills can be made.
The earth should be scooped out and
a shovelful of manure applied if 1t is
available. The soil is then thrown
over this manure SO that the top of
the hill is level with the surrounding
soil. Six to tw, I've seeds should be
planted in each hill in order to Sc
cure {. full stand of plants and also to
give opportunity for selection of the
best plants when the poorer ones are
thinned out. When the third or
fourth leaf is we'll developed. the
plants should be thinned, leaving four
plants to the hill for cucumbers and
one or two for melons.
The early cultivation may be fairly
deep while the plants are small and
before their roots begin to spread.
Not infrequently early in the season
rainy weather may prevent cultivat-
ing until the weeds get a start. If
the early cultivating is deep these
weeds may be more readily killed if
they do get start. Later cultiva-
ton should be shallow so as not to
break off the roots of the plants once
they begin to spread out between the
rows In order to maintain shallow
cultivation, it should be frequent.
After every rain, the crust should be
broken as quickly as the land can be
worked.
Frequent cultivation, early. let's the
spring rains soak into the ground in
stead OF allowing them to wash of
from the surface. This enables the
grower to store up the early rains
Of the spring deep into the soil be-
low. The shallow dust mulch main
S84uCu w Iu0 DULL 0CC AoS0A III tuC
season saves this moisture in the soil,
80 that it will be available to the
plants during the dry weather of July
or August.
The most common enemy of these
crops in this section is the striped
cucumber beetle. Usually this insect
may be readily kept in check If the
soil is rich SO that the plants grow
rapidly, and if frequent cultivation is
given to keep the dust on the surface.
The cucumber beetle does not like
the dust. On small areas he may be
kept in check by sprinkling air-slaked
lime or ashes around the hills and re-
applying it after rains have wet 1t
down. In large commercial areas the
growers depend on soil dust main
tanned by cultivation to drive the in
sect out of the field. On dry day,
cultivation may begin on the side Of
the field next to the wind. when the
inaoct In aacaDa the duat will On