LUTHER BURBANK 



Syrian region in various forms, and it thrives par- 

 ticularly in dry climates like that in which it has 

 grown for ages. It does not thrive in the moist 

 eastern climates, but is better adapted to semi-arid 

 conditions. 



There are certain distinctive features of the 

 different cantaloups and muskmelons to which the 

 gardener should give attention. The light-fleshed 

 ones should have light skins, and the dark-fleshed 

 ones dark skins. The network on the skin is an 

 important guide in seed selection, as a fine, com- 

 pletely netted melon usually is of better quality 

 than one that is incompletely netted. These two 

 conditions seem generally correlated, though not 

 necessarily so. The flesh of the melon should be 

 thick, and tender throughout, except that for ship- 

 ping purposes it is sometimes desirable to have the 

 flesh a little harder toward the skin. 



The seed cavity should be small, and the seeds 

 should be in a compact mass, occupying a mini- 

 mum amount of space. 



Now and again one hears of attempts made to 

 grow seedless melons. A moment's reflection will 

 show that this suggestion must be intended as a 

 joke. The melons are annuals, and must be grown 

 year by year from the seed. To eliminate the seed 

 would be to exterminate the melon in a single 

 season. The case is obviously very different from 



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