10 



The Bulletin. 



Seed saved without careful selection will produce fruit that will lack 

 uniformity in shape, size, and quality. Careful selection of seed is based 

 on clearly defined ideals as to type, etc. The grower who plans to select 

 his own seed should draw up a description of the type he is attempting 

 to produce and stick to that type, remembering that in the selected seed 

 the special characteristics, such as early maturity, netting, sweetness, 

 thickness of flesh, and resistance to disease, are intensified in each gen- 

 eration, thereby making it highly essential that seed selection should be 

 made from the best plants only. 



Fig. 1. Melons collected on a local market. Grown from seed saved, not selected. 



The markets demand and will pay good prices only for fruit of good 

 quality. If the grower wishes to select his own seed, and will make his 

 selection on the following basis, he will meet the market demands, which 

 are based on size, quality, and appearance (see Fig. 2) : 



1. Vine : healthy, vigorous, prolific, and early maturing. 



2. Size : medium, packing 36 or 45 per crate. 



3. Form : roundish. 



4. Netting: well developed, grayish-brown color, completely covering 

 the melon. 



5. Rind : thin. 



6. Flesh : very thick, juicy. 



7. Texture : firm, fine grained, not soft. 



8. Seed cavity : small, well filled, with plump seed. 



9. Quality: sweet, spicy. 



