456 GARDEN FARMING 



Atlantic coast, and through the Gulf States to Texas, the area 

 coinciding very nearly with that over which the long-leaf pine is 

 naturally distributed. The acreages mentioned give some idea of 

 the extent of this industry in the United States. It is not an un- 

 common sight during the watermelon season to see a train of from 

 30 to 40 cars loaded with watermelons pass through the gateway 

 of the South to the North. 



Uses. The use of the watermelon is confined almost exclusively 

 to human consumption as it has no by-products. It has some value, 

 however, as a food for hogs, but because of the limited number of 

 these animals reared in the region where watermelons are exten- 

 sively grown, the crop is of minor importance as a stock food. 

 The commercial value of the crop is great. A carload to the acre 

 is considered a normal crop on land well suited to its cultivation, 

 and a carload consists of 1200 melons each weighing about 

 20 pounds, which is considered the ideal weight for market. 

 Most plants when grown toward the Northern limit of their 

 successful cultivation become earlier and more fruitful in pro- 

 portion to their vegetative growth. This does not hold with the 

 watermelon ; the best results both at the North and the South 

 invariably come from using seeds grown at the South. 



Varieties often change in varietal characters under different environments. 

 Georgia Rattlesnake, grown in the sandy soils in the vicinity of Augusta, 

 Georgia, has no superior either for home use or market ; but 150 miles north 

 of Augusta it does not maintain its good qualities. 1 



Botany. The watermelon, a native of Africa, is undoubtedly 

 more extensively cultivated in the United States than in any other 

 country. This plant is known to botanists as Citrullus vulgaris, 

 a member of the great group Cucurbitacecz. It is a tender an- 

 nual, which, under the care of the horticulturist, has developed a va- 

 riety of forms differing in size, shape, and markings, and in the 

 color of the seeds and flesh. There are two well-defined classes of 

 watermelons the common watermelon of commerce shown in 

 figure 1/4, with its sweet, brittle flesh, and a small, hard-fleshed 

 melon used for preserving, which is " long keeping " in comparison 

 with the perishable nature of the table melon. This small melon 



1 J. S. Newman, " Southern Gardeners' Practical Manual." 



