CUCUMBERS

For main crop or pickle cucumbers should be planted in the open ground from June until the middle of July; at this season there is less danger of damage from the striped cucumber beetle and the stink bug, both serious enemies of the vine family; but even so late in the season it will be well to take the easy precaution of strewing tobacco stems or dust on the hill about the plants.

For pickles plant in hills four to six feet apart each way and keep the entire surface of the ground clean with frequent cultivation. Hoeing about the hills and running the hand cultivator with the scuffle-hoe attachment between the hills will be sufficient, but no weeds should be allowed to make a start, as once the vines have begun to172 cover the ground it will be difficult to eradicate the weeds and the vines must not be tramped on or handled unnecessarily. When the plants are a foot long pinch out the ends of the branches to induce branching and check too rampant a growth. Pull up all but three or four plants when all danger of bugs is past. Keep a close watch for root maggot, borer, and wilt. Spray with Bordeaux arsenate of lead mixture at the first appearance of wilt, and continue once a week until the fruit appears; after that it will not be safe to use the poison.

Gather the pickles frequently—every other day if bearing well; do not allow fruit to grow large or ripen on the vines if grown for pickles as this will check production.

One of the best table varieties is Early Fortune—also a desirable pickling variety. Arlington, White Spine and Davis's Perfect are excellent table sorts and Chicago Pickle—a standard pickle sort—and Long Green, or Jersey Pickle and the Westerfield's Chicago Pickle are all excellent types for growing for pickles.

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CITRON

Used for preserving and for sweet pickles, require the same treatment as melons and squash. Seed may be planted directly in the open ground or started on pieces of sod in the hotbed; this is preferable as the fruit sometimes fails to ripen in a short season and unless fully ripened on the vine the preserves have a watery taste, no matter how carefully prepared. Citron make about the same length of vine as the watermelon so should be planted from five to six feet apart, and when the vines are a foot in length the tips should be pinched off to induce branching and check too straying a habit. Keep cultivated, remembering that the dust-mulch is the best garden insurance and spray with Bordeaux mixture against blight and use tobacco dust liberally as a preventive measure against the yellow striped beetle and the squash bug.

MUSK MELONS

In securing seed for growing musk melons one should take into consideration the climate and174 the length of the growing season. Certain varieties of melon require certain climatic conditions and will not give satisfaction if these are lacking. Melons that are adapted to the climate of Colorado—like the Rocky Ford, the Honey Dew and the like seldom do well in the east and middle west where early frosts are apt to find the fruit still immature, but there are many other excellent varieties well adapted to these sections. The Extra Early Hackensack, the Osage, the Irondequoit and others can be grown with satisfaction and all are especially fine and large.

As a general thing I think a large melon, sweetness and flavor being equal, preferable. One of the sweetest melons with which I am acquainted is the old Cassaba; this is the largest musk melon grown—a perfect specimen being from twelve to fifteen inches in length and as much as one wishes to carry up from the garden, but the delicate green flesh is melted sugar, nothing less, with a flavor all its own.

For an early crop of melons one should start the seed in the hotbed on squares of sod, using175 plenty of seed so that one will have an assured stand, and transplant when all danger of frost is past. If one only grows a few hills it will well repay one for the extra trouble to cover the hills with shallow boxes, covered with wire netting or mosquito netting. The boxes should not be more than four inches high and about twelve inches square, or thereabouts; if removed as soon as danger of bugs is past and stored in a dry place they will last for a number of years. Empty biscuit boxes sawed in two make good frames or strips of three inch lumber can quickly be converted into frames by any one handy with hammer and saw.

Dry weather is one of the serious drawbacks to melon culture as the drought usually comes just as the fruit is setting. Sinking tin cans, with holes punched in the sides near the bottom, to the top in the soil in the middle of the hill and keeping them filled with water will be of much assistance in bringing the fruit on to maturity. Occasionally too much rain interferes with the ripening of the fruit; in such cases the empty can176 will act as a drain pipe by accumulating water from the surface soil. The glass plant protectors used in early spring are helpful in concentrating the little sunshine cloudy weather affords and where these are not available old window glass may be used to afford protection from rain and wind for a few days. This should be supported on the north side by a frame or stout stakes, their lower edge resting on the ground.

The best soil for melons is a warm, sandy soil well enriched with barnyard manure and a supplementary shovelful should be placed in each hill. Make the hills about six feet apart each way, and thin out to three plants to a hill. If desired such small sorts as Rocky Ford, Paul Rose, Hoodoo and the like may be grown on netting; they will not, perhaps, bear as freely, but the fruit will be more perfect than when grown on the ground, and there is this advantage that the fruit drops when perfectly ripe so that there is no uncertainty about gathering it. Where there is only a small garden spot available the growing of melons, cucumbers and the177 like on netting is a distinct advantage; the cultivation then becomes as simple as that of a row of peas and can be continued throughout the season; gathering the fruit is much simplified as there are no vines to be trampled on and if water is needed it can be quickly applied along the row. Melons grown on netting are easily protected from early frost, but it is difficult to cover any considerable area on the ground.

WATERMELONS

Require the same treatment as musk-melons except that it is all right that they should be started in the open ground, spacing the hills from eight to ten feet apart each way; giving a spadeful of manure in each hill. Spray with Bordeaux arsenate of lead mixture once or twice, using a much weaker dilution than for other vines. Pinch out the ends of the vines. Keep cultivated and free from weeds. Avoid stepping on the vines or handling them unnecessarily.

Cole's Early, Kleckley Sweet and the new melon—Tom Watson—are all good sorts of much178 sweetness and crispness of flesh. The first is well adapted to the northern states, the Kleckley a few days later than Cole's Early. A few Winter Watermelons will extend the season long into the winter as this variety may be gathered at the approach of cold weather and stored in a cool, frost-proof cellar and will retain its delicious flavor and sweetness for weeks. Unlike the other melons mentioned, which are oblong and green, and very tender of rind, the Winter is round, nearly white-skinned and of a hardness approaching the citron. The flesh, however, is red and very firm. It must not be concluded that the Winter is a late season melon, for it is one of the earliest, continuing to bear until frost cuts the vines............