The first-generation melons were all green rind and the recessive pump- 

 kin-rind character did not appear until the second generation. In the second 

 generation, yellow-rind melons of various sizes were secured. Those having 

 the desired small size and reasonably good quality flesh of red color with 

 dark colored seeds were selected and their seeds were saved for planting 

 in the greenhouse. These plants were self-pollinated and gave sufficient 

 seed for planting about one acre of golden-rind watermelons in the field 

 in 1956. Of the hundreds of melons ripened in the field, only three were 

 judged to have suflicieiith high quality to merit being grown in the green- 

 house again. Progenies grown from seeds of these three melons have been 

 backcrossed to high-quality, normal, green-rind melons to aid in improving 

 the quality of the orange-rind selections. It seems possible to produce a 

 watermelon variety having the size, quality, and productivity of the New 

 Hampshire Midget and which will have an orange color of skin when rij)e. 



