26 MELON CULTURE 



embryo is probably imperfectly developed. If capa- 

 ble of germination, they rarely, if ever, produce vig- 

 orous plants. 



As a rule, the most vigorous plants come from 

 fully matured seeds. Immature seeds, persistently 

 used, probably tend to reduced vigor, early matu- 

 rity, dwarfness, and shortened life. And Bailey 

 remarks 1 that these results are probably closely 

 associated with the chemical constitution and con- 

 tent of the immature seeds. The organic com- 

 pounds have not yet reached a state of stability, 

 and they therefore respond quickly to external 

 stimuli when placed in conditions suitable to 

 germination, and there is little food for the nourish- 

 ment of the plantlet. The consequent weakness of 

 the plantlet results in a loss of vegetable vigor, 

 which is earliness. In other words, if the melon 

 grower wishes to increase the earliness of his crop, 

 he can do so by persistently gathering his seeds 

 from immature fruits, but he will invariably secure 

 ^earliness at the expense of vigor of plant, and with- 

 out a vigorous plant the crop of fruit will inevitably 

 be shortened. More than that, a plant that is weak 

 in vitality cannot produce a fruit of the highest 

 quality. It is a recognized fact, therefore, that seeds 

 like the melon and cucumber will produce the 

 greatest yield of the .highest quality fruit from well- 

 ripened seeds which are two or three years old. 2 



Early vs. Late Ripening Fruits for Seed. — There 

 is a prevalent opinion that, in order to prevent de- 

 terioration in the time of ripening of the melons, 

 it is necessary to select the first ripe fruits for seed. 



1 "Plant Breeding." 



" A. B. A., Vol. IV, page 165. 



