68 



THE VEGETABLES OF NEW YORK 



Delicious. Refs. 37, 54, 95, 121. Syns. Extra Selected 

 Delicious, Golden Delicious. 



Delicious was introduced in 1925 by Chas. J. Lind- 

 holm, Minneapolis, Minnesota, as Golden Delicious. 

 Jerome B. Rice Seed Co., Cambridge, New York, and 

 Joseph Harris Company, Coldwater, New York, offered 

 it as Delicious in 1930, and in 1935 Mr. Lindholm also 

 dropped the word " Golden " from the title. Delicious 

 is best described as an early strain of the famous Bender 

 from which it was selected and which it resembles in many 

 ways. For the home garden and local trade it has a 

 very definite place in the list of varieties. 



This is a moderately early variety about 5 or 6 days 

 earlier than Bender's Surprise, in season with Extra Early 

 Hackensack and Extra Early Osage and about a week 

 later than Golden Champlain. It is most like Bender 

 and differs from that variety in being smaller, less deeply 

 furrowed, more finely netted and in having a much less 

 prominent blossom scar. 



Plant vigorous; vines moderately coarse and medium heavy; 

 branches moderately many. 



Fruit medium large, 6} >~7 x 6-6 ' 2 inches; weight 4-5 pounds. 

 Shape nearly globular to short oval; base full; apex even; blossom 

 scar rather obscure; ribs slightly prominent, 2 inches across the 

 medial; furrows narrow, moderately shallow and smooth. Netting 

 moderately abundant, rather finely laced; cork moderately light, 

 distributed rather uniformly over the ribs; interstices moderately 

 shallow. Skin color pale creamy yellow. Flesh orange, medium 

 thick, 1 ' 4 — 1 ] 2 inches; texture moderately fine, slightly fibrous, 

 moderately soft and juicy; sweet, mildly flavored, pleasant aroma; 

 quality good. Cavity moderately small, 3'^ x 2 l -> inches, circular 

 in cross-section. Rind thick, 34 inch, moderately strong, medium 

 tough. 



Delmonico. Refs. 4, 38, 40, 53, 83, 84, 88, 89, 91, 92, 

 98, 99, 100, 101, 106, 107, 125, 127, 128, 133, 144. 



Named for Delmonico, the famous New York caterer, 

 this melon was introduced in 1889 by Peter Henderson 

 & Co. The original seed came from Waterloo, 

 Nebraska, a section which at that time produced a large 

 proportion of the vine seeds grown in this country. The 

 Perfected Delmonico which came out nearly ten years 

 later was a smaller melon more globular than the original 

 Delmonico. 



Delmonico was similar in shape and size to Osage, 

 but differed from that variety in being decidedly heavier 

 netted and having narrower, more uniformly netted ribs. 

 It differs from Perfected Delmonico in being larger, 

 much more oblong in shape, more heavily netted and 

 more prominently ribbed. 



Fruit moderately large, 7 J 2 _ 8 x 5)4-6 inches; weight 4-5 

 pounds. Shape oval, slightly tapered at the apex; blossom scar 

 obscure, ribs moderately prominent, l^-l^ inches broad at the 

 medial; furrows narrow, moderately shallow, netted. Netting 

 abundant, uniformly and moderately coarse interlaced; cork moder- 

 ately heavy and evenly distributed over the surface; interstices 

 moderately deep. Skin color light orange yellow, rather green 

 along the furrows. Flesh salmon orange; moderately thin, 1-1 '., 

 inches; texture fine, firm, moderately juicy; moderately sweet, fair 

 flavor, quality medium good. Cavity large, 4x3 inches, circular in 

 cross-section. Rind thick, ' t —K inch, moderately tough and strong. 



Early Bird. 



This is an early, yellow-meated sort that was first 

 offered in 1930 by the Iowa Seed Co., Des Moines, Iowa. 



It is one of the very earliest melons at Geneva, 

 maturing in season with Citron and Extra Early Hanover 

 and about a week earlier than Fordhook and Jenny 

 Lind. It most resembles Extra Early Hanover in 

 shape, although it differs from that variety in flesh 

 color, and is larger, more symmetrical and more uniformly 

 netted. During wet years, Early Bird is rather suscep- 

 tible to blossom-end cracking and for this reason has not 

 been widely grown. 



Plant vigorous; vines moderately slender, branches many. 



Fruit moderately small, 6-6 '2 x 5-5' 2 inches; weight 2' .', 

 pounds. Shape very short oval to nearly globular; base full; apex 

 even, somewhat inclined to crack, blossom scar rather conspicuous; 

 ribs slightly prominent, l 1 j-l :, 1 inches broad at the medial; fur- 

 rows moderately narrow, rather shallow and netted. Netting 

 abundant, moderately fine laced; cork moderately heavy, distributed 

 over the entire fruit; interstices medium deep. Skin color green, 

 sparsely mottled with golden brown at full maturity. Flesh orange, 

 medium thick, \}i inches; texture medium fine, slightly fibrous, 

 rather soft and juicy; sweet, rather highly flavored, mild aroma; 

 quality good. Cavity moderately small, 2 ' 2 x 2)4 inches, triangular 

 in cross-section. Rind moderately thick, £g inch, moderately 

 weak. 



Edward's Perfecto. Refs. 15, 36, 54, 58, 64, 65, 79, 

 81, 105, 109, 110. Syns. Improved Perfecto, 

 Improved Pink Meat, Orange Flesh, Orange 

 Flesh Perfecto, Orange Flesh Superba, Perfected 

 Perfecto, Perfecto, Superfecto. 

 This melon was developed from the Rocky Ford 

 Eden Gem by J. R. Edwards of Rocky Ford, Colorado. 

 Seed was offered by Ross Bros. Seed Co., Wichita, Kansas, 

 in 1920, by Livingston in 1923, and by Burrell and 

 Vaughan in 1924. This type of melon which was 

 developed during the period of great expansion of the 

 melon shipping business was only another step toward 

 the ideal. Mr. Edwards continued selection work 

 and from his stocks came other leading strains of ship- 

 ping melons. The Superfecto offered first in 1926 

 came as the result of further selection by D. V. Burrell. 

 The Perfected Perfecto and Improved Perfecto represent 

 the most outstanding and leading strains of today. 

 All of these selections had as an object a heavily netted, 

 non-ribbed type with thick flesh of a delightful salmon- 

 orange color and a very small seed cavity. 



It is a moderately late variety maturing at Geneva 

 4-6 days earlier than Texas Cannon ball, and 3-4 days 

 later than Hale's Best. The fruits are somewhat more 

 oval and slightly larger than Pollock 10-25 and very 

 much like Hale's Best in shape and character of netting. 

 The flesh is deeper orange than Hale's Best and usually 

 not as thick, otherwise they are difficult to distinguish. 



Plant medium in vigor; vines moderately slender; branches 

 moderately few. 



Fruit moderately small, 6-6)2 x 5-5 Vi inches; weight 2 '2-3 

 pounds. Shape short oval to nearly globular, symmetrical, rounded 

 at base and apex; blossom scar obscure; ribs and furrows absent. 

 Netting abundant, moderately fine laced; cork medium heavy, 

 distributed uniformly over the surface; interstices medium deep. 

 Skin color dark green. Flesh salmon orange; medium thick, 

 1 ' 1 1 ' _> inches, texture fine, fiberless, moderately firm and juicy; 

 sweet, rather highly flavored and pleasantly aromatic; quality good. 

 Cavity moderately small, 3x2 inches, triangular in cross-section. 

 Rind medium thick, ) \ inch, strong and tough. 



