Gently press the sides of a melon and if it crackles a little bit, all right; if it makes no sound then go to another. Commercial pickers look at the little spiral between the melon and the nearest leaf. If it is withered they pick the melon, if fresh, pass it until next picking.
Growing Onion Seed and Sets.
Will you give localities of the leading production of onion seed or dry sets in your State?
Onion seed is grown in several parts of the State, largely in the Santa Clara valley adjacent to the city of San Jose. Onion sets are largely produced in Orange county, near Los Angeles, for eastern shipment, for which purpose they are grown under contract.
Ripening Onions.
I am raising some onions from bottom sets and as they are growing nicely and are beginning to swell at the bulb some advise me to cut the tops off and some advise me to bend them over or tramp them down.
Do not cut off the tops of the onions. If they seem to be overgrowing and not disposed to ripen the bulb, the top can be broken down, thus partly arresting the vegetative energy of the plant and causing maturity.
Onions from Sets.
Will onion sets planted in July grow and mature in the fall months?
Good onion sets grown during the winter and spring should be mature by July and if planted after drying would proceed to make a full growth of large onions if growing conditions should be right for them; that is, the soil moist and the temperature not too high.