128 VSES OF PLANTS BY INDIANS [eth. ANN. 33 



Dt>Cltll'nn.\ OK DOMESTIC LIFE OF VIIttilMA INDIANS IN 15S5; MENTION 

 OF MELONS. 



From De Bry: 



•' Si>nip of their towns . . . are not inclosed with a palisiide, and are much 

 more plciisanl : .Secotan, for example, here drawn from nature. The bouses 

 are more scjittere<l, and a greater degree of comfort and cultivation is ob- 

 .servtHl, with gardens in which tobacco ... is cultivated, woods filled with 

 deer, and fields of corn. In the fields they erect a stage ... in which a 

 seiitr.v is .stationed to ginird against llu- depredations of birds and thieves. 

 Their corn the.v plant In rows .... for it grows so large, with thick stalk 

 and liroad leaves, that one plant would stint the oilier and it would never 

 arrive at maturity. They have al.so a curious place . . . where they convene 

 with their neighbors at their feasts. . . . and from which they go to the feast. 

 On the opposite side is their place of prayer .... and near to it the sepulcher 

 of their chiefs . . . They have gardens for melons . . . and a place . . . where 

 they Imllil their sacred fires. .\t .•! little distance from the town is the pond 

 . . . from which they obtain water." ' 



In the light of what T had heard from the TiuUans and what I 

 found in the writin<rs of the first white men who came in contact 

 with the trihcs. T wrote to several persons, whose replies follow ; these 

 are self-explanatory. 



... As to Shawnees raising watermelons before the advent of our white 

 brethren. I doubt It ; I have never heard of their raising any melons except 

 those whose seed was first given them by the early .Jesuit fathers when tliey 

 lived on the Wapakoneta in Ohio. Uowever, they did raise a small pumpkin, 

 which tbey called by a name meaning " little pumpkin." from which T de<luce 

 that lliey iirobably raisetl a larger variety, but of which they seem to have lost 

 the seed. 



DECESlnKR 4, 1!)14. PlERREPONT .\LF0RD, 



Kronturhku. Oklii. 



I regret that I can not give you anything worth while about watermelons In 

 North .\merica. I have met the, plant throughout the eastern United States, 

 particularly in the Southern States, but only as an escape. 



Januaby 12, 1914. . J. K. Small, 



New York Botanic Garden, 

 liron-x Park, Netc York City. 



We have the small round melon with the small black seed. TVe sell it under 

 the name of the Pickaninny. ... I don't know anything about the origin of 

 this variety ; we got it from a woman In Kansas. 



Januaby 13, 1914. Henby Field Seed Co., 



By Henry Field, President. 



We have your favor of the 8th Instant, and In reply mail you a copy of 

 Huriiee's Annual for 1914, and for small fruited variety of watermelon refer 

 you to the Baby Delight, describe<l on page 21. We also have offered for 

 several .seasons seed of Burpee's Hungarian Honey watermelon, which is early, 



• De Bry, quoted by Tbomas, Mound Explorations, p. 62 



