JULY 1 TO SEPTEMBER 30, 1909. 27 



25929 to 25931— Continued. 



Seeds of the following: 



25929. 1903 crop. 25931. 1909 crop. 



25930. 1908 crop. 



"Between 1825 and 1835 the Rev. Albert Holladay, of Virginia, was Presbyterian 

 missionary to Persia. He brought to Ameiica seeds of a cantaloupe. My father 

 raised this melon in Virginia, and in 1836 brought seed to St. Charles County, Mo., 

 where he raised it until his death in 1853. Relatives and friends have since raised it. 

 I have for thirty years, also my brother William, living at Clayton, St. Louis County. 

 The melon raised in Virginia and in Missouri for ten or twenty years was smaller and 

 sweeter than that raised since. It seems the first was not much ove* 1 4 inches in 

 diameter and good to the outer rind. The melon now is as much as 6 inches in diam- 

 eter and has at least a one-half of an inch of rind. When ripe it pulls off easily and 

 generally has a red gum at stem where it breaks. A good melon of this kind is still 

 better than most others and we call it the 'Persian cantaloupe. ' (Broadhead.) 



25932. Medicago sativa L. Alfalfa. 



From Aintab, Turkey. Presented by Mrs. F. A. Shepard. Received Septem- 

 ber 3, 1909. 



"This seed was collected in the arid regions about Aintab, about 3,500 feet above 

 the sea and 100 miles inland. There is scarcely any rain for five months in the year. 

 The plant is not planted for pasturage, but grows upon wild lands, where sheep and 

 goats browse." (Shepard.) 



25934. Citrullus vulgaris Schrad. Watermelon. 



From Robertson, Cape Colony, South Africa. Presented by Mr. Charles P. 

 Lounsbury, government entomologist, Cape of Good Hope, Department of 

 Agriculture, Cape Town, who procured the seeds from Mr. E. A. Visser, manager 

 of the Experiment Station at Robertson. Received September 4, 1909. 



Monketaan. 



"Mr. Visser says this plant yielded melons at the rate of 75 tons an acre on the station 

 grounds without any special care, and that the melons keep well and are excellent 

 stock food. They weigh about 30 pounds each and have a firm, sweetish, somewhat 

 tough pulp. The rind is mottled pale and dark green like common watermelons, as a 

 rule, but is sometimes whitish in this strain. The seeds do not separate readily and 

 no one seems to be trying to save more than he needs for himself, so there is little 

 chance of buying a supply unless it is ordered a year ahead. Mr. Jack, who was 

 director in the department here and is now farming, is trying in vain to get seed for 

 100 acres, which at least indicates that the merits of the crop appeal to him. Mr. 

 Thornton, our agriculturist, tells me the plant has long grown to the west of Kuruman 

 on the east side of the Kalihari desert. (The small Tsama melon sent to the United 

 States grows on the west side.) He thinks it was probably cultivated there by natives 

 in bygone days, but now it grows wild. Some years ago he got down seeds and had 

 them planted near Graaff Reinet. Farmers of the district soon appreciated the value 

 of the melon and took to its cultivation as a stock food. It is said on good authority 

 to have yielded as high as 150 tons an acre around there, the ground becoming almost 

 obscured by the fruits. The strain introduced to the Robertson station is from Graaff 

 Reinet way, not direct from the desert, and Thornton thinks there is a possibility that 

 it is not quite true to type; but if it is not, it is an improvement on the original he 

 thinks. 

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