28 MELON CULTURE 



seed from early maturing plants than the late selec- 

 tions from the same field would have. 



"As to the specific question as to whether the 

 early matured seed from a given plant will pro- 

 duce earlier results than late maturing seed from 

 the same plant, I have not found in my work any 

 appreciable difference, except that the early seed is 

 apt to be much plumper and heavier, which will nat- 

 urally produce a more vigorous, early, better-fed 

 seedling, and, consequently, earlier crops. We have 

 seen this here every year in sacking cantaloupe 

 seed; the ordinary seamless sack will hold eighty 

 to eighty-five pounds, while of the late-saved seed 

 only about seventy or seventy-five pounds can be 

 gotten into a sack, and this difference is mostly in 

 the seed kernel; hence, there is another reason 

 for the superior value of early selected seed." 



Effect of Latitude and Altitude on Early Matu- 

 rity. — In a circular on cantaloupe breeding, Profes- 

 sor Blinn makes the following statement concern- 

 ing the effect of latitude and altitude on the time 

 of ripening: "It has long been an established fact 

 that early maturity in plants can be hastened by 

 using seed from a higher altitude or more north- 

 erly latitude. It is also true that seed grown under 

 dry climate conditions where the moisture is con- 

 trolled by irrigation is plumper and heavier and 

 superior in vigor and vitality to that produced in 

 humid sections having excessive rainfall." One 

 should not deceive himself, however, by thinking 

 that because the melon was grown in Colorado, or 

 any other state of a similar altitude, it will neces- 

 sarily produce melons of superior quality. 



