The Bulletin. 9 



disease. These melons produced uniform Jumbo sized fruits of excellent 

 flavor and appearance. The flesh is very firm, of fine texture, highly 

 flavored, and of medium thickness. The netting is well developed and 

 of fine color. They are excellent shippers. 



SEED. 



The question of good seed is a matter of vital importance to the canta- 

 loupe grower. The value of the fruit and its influence on the market 

 make it advisable for the grower to avoid planting anything but seed 

 which will produce early melons of ideal type and quality. 



Good seed is expensive, but when compared with the value of a crop 

 of fruit the cost is a comparatively small item. A good many growers 

 buy whatever seed is cheapest and trust to luck that it will turn out all 

 right. This is the straight road to failure. Fortunately, the markets 

 now demand but few of the standard varieties, most of which are closely 

 ]-elated to the Rocky Ford type of the Netted Gem ; but there are many 

 types of this variety, and it is well to exercise care in securing seed in 

 order that it will produce the type of melons demanded by the markets. 



The placing of poor seed on the market is due largely to individuals 

 making their own selections of seed and at the same time having differ- 

 ent ideals as to the true type of cantaloupe, or not having knowledge as 

 to what constitutes an ideal melon. On account of this, a large percent- 

 age of the fruits produced bring poor prices when placed on the market, 

 because they lack uniformity in size, shape, and quality. Generally 

 speaking, the flesh is soft and lacks the fine flavor so characteristic of a 

 good cantaloupe. 



In an effort to determine to what extent the home saving of seed is 

 practiced, a local market was visited and twenty melons were indiscrim- 

 inately picked from the various stands and wagons. Among these melons 

 were many types, some of which could be recognized, but with the ma- 

 jority the original strain was so lost as to make identification impossible. 

 (See Fig. 1.) Those that were known wei'e the Hackensac, Emerald 

 Gem, Banana, Casaba, and Jenny Lind. Even these were not strictly 

 true to variety. Each melon was tested for quality, etc., and, with the 

 exception of the Hackensac, was found to be far below the standard. 

 They were soft in texture, thin fleshed, and were so run out that the 

 flavor was absolutely lost. The growers of these melons were questioned 

 with a view to discovering the source of seed. In every case it was found 

 that the grower either saved his seed or purchased it from a neighbor. 

 Not only are the growers for local markets lax in securing good seed, but 

 some growers for distant or general markets exhibit the same tendencies. 

 During the past season many cantaloupe fields were visited, and in some 

 cases it was found that the fruits were ill-shaped, slick, did not mature 

 properly, and the vines were often subject to the ravages of rust. In 

 nearly every case the grower had saved his own seed. 



