TWO TliTES OF MUSKMELON 



At the left is a standard vine tvpe (Burrell Gem) coiled around itself, at the right a dwarf 

 novelty, the .Henderson Bush. The form of the latter is really degenerate, the stem 

 being shortened and thickened in most of its length; and the fruits produced are as degen- 

 erate as the plant. Many of the most valuable commercial varieties of fruit and vegetable, 

 and still more ornamental plants, are degenerates from an evolutionary point of view, 

 and would not survive long in a struggle for existence with their wild relatives. (Fig. 11.) 



bush plants only 199.2 grams. This is a 

 remarkable positive correlation between 

 size of plant and that of its fruits. Fur- 

 thermore, the majority of the ripe 

 fruits from the vine plants had salmon 

 flesh like that of the vine parent, while 

 the small fruits, few in number, of the 

 bush plants were with one exception 

 green fleshed, like the Henderson parent. 

 In other words, there was an apparent 

 linking of the factors for weight and 

 flesh color (and shape as well) that may 

 be attributed in part at least to the lack 

 of vigor in the bush type. Whatever 

 caused the brachysm, it may be as- 

 sumed, acted to restrain the develop- 

 ment of the fruits as well as the inter- 

 nodes; this influence extended even to 

 the ripening of the melons and found 

 expression in the failure to take on the 

 salmon flesh-color characteristic of ma- 

 ture fruits of healthy, vigorous plants. 



A form of degeneracy quite compar- 

 able with that shown in the muskmelon 

 is found among commercial varieties of 

 peppers that are grouped for this rea- 

 son under the name of "clustered pep- 

 pers." Plants in this category have 

 very short internodes in the portion of 

 the stem where flower buds form. This 

 occurrence brings the forming leaves 

 close together as well as any fruits 

 that may afterwards form among them. 

 These clustered leaves form usually 

 long petioles with narrow blades, thus 

 producing two types of foliage upon the 

 same plant. Furthermore, the abortive 

 stem, failing to continue its elongation, 

 must rely upon the clustered leaves for 

 photosynthesis and these are as a rule 

 long-lived, take on an unusual thickness, 

 and consequently become of a rich dark 

 green color. 



The Red Cluster is a common com- 



271 



