MUSKMELONS 



73 



4-6 days later than Golden Champlain. It resembled 

 Osage in general appearance, but was more globular 

 than that variety and had a distinctly lighter green skin 

 color and a deeper orange flesh. 



Fruit medium large, 6-6 l > x e'^-C 3 * inches; weight 2-2'> 

 pounds. Shape globular, base slightly depressed, apex rounded; 

 blossom scar rather obscure; ribs prominent, 1 ' i inches broad at the 

 medial; furrows broad, moderately shallow and smooth. Netting 

 medium in amount, patchy, rather finely interlaced in some areas, 

 often streaked; cork light, distributed unevenly over the ribs; inter 

 stices shallow. Skin color pea green. Flesh deep orange, moder- 

 ately thin, 1-1 J v inches; texture fine, rather fibrous, firm and rather 

 juicy; very sweet, highly flavored and mildly aromatic; quality 

 very good. Cavity medium large, circular in cross-section. Rind 

 moderately thick, '4 inch, strong and medium tough. 



Greeley Wonder. Refs. 54, 58, 79, 105, 108, 109, 139. 

 Syns. Golden Queen, New Perfect Leader, Perfect 

 Leader, Reuter's Wonder, Unsurpassed. 



With the statement " looks like a Hackensack but 

 cuts like Osage, " Henry Field Seed Co., Shenandoah, 

 Iowa, in 1917 offered seed of this new melon to their 

 customers. It originated near Greeley, Colorado, and 

 although rather late in maturing, was large and of good 

 quality. The Livingston Seed Co. has listed the variety 

 for many years. 



This is a midseason variety, about the same season 

 as Bender's Surprise, 4 or 5 days later than Delicious 

 and a few days earlier than Hale's Best. The fruits are 

 more globular than those of Bender's Surprise, have 

 somewhat less prominent ribs and furrows, and are 

 much more uniformly netted. 



Plant vigorous; vines moderately coarse and heavy; branches 

 moderately many. 



Fruit moderately large, 6J^-7 x 6'4-6 ? 4 inches; weight 4 ] 2-5 

 pounds. Shape globular, full at base and apex; blossom scar usually 

 obscure; ribs moderately prominent, 1 \ i inches broad at the medial; 

 furrows moderately broad, medium deep and usually smooth. 

 Netting moderately abundant, interlaced rather coarsely; cork 

 moderately heavy, distributed moderately uniformly over the ribs, 

 base and apex; interstices golden brown, sparsely mottled with 

 green. Flesh pale orange, medium thick, l^-l 1 ^ inches; texture 

 fine, slightly fibrous, soft and juicy; sweet, medium flavor, mild 

 aroma, quality fair to moderately good. Cavity large, 4 x 3 'a 

 inches, circular in cross-section. Rind thick, ] 4 inch, moderately 

 strong and rather tough. 



Green Fleshed. Refs. 24, 42, 86, 133. Syn. Improved 

 Green Fleshed. 

 This variety bears out the sentiments of J. C. 

 Loudon, the author of An Encyclopedia of Gardening, 

 who in 1850 wrote " the sorts which may be fashion- 

 able at one period, may be known only historically at 

 another." Green Fleshed described by him as a very 

 excellent variety exists now in name only. 



Green Fleshed Osa«e. Refs. 11, 29, 53, 97, 98, 99, 

 100, 101, 105, 133, 140. 

 Chauncey P. Coy of Waterloo, Nebraska, who at 

 one time was a grower of large quantities of muskmelon 

 seed, found a green-fleshed fruit in a field of Osage. 

 This was carefully saved and planted; a selection from 

 this was offered, with an excellent illustration, in the 

 1893 catalog of Johnson & Stokes. Except for the color 

 of the flesh it has proved to be identical with Osage. 



Hackensack. Refs. 7, 15, 23, 25, 26, 28, 29, 38, 39. 



43, 44, 45, 46, 49, 53, 58, 65, 70, 73, 75, 89, 90. 

 91, 93, 94, 95, 96, 98, 99, 100, 103, 104, 105, 107, 

 108, 109, 124, 127, 128, 129. 133, 135, 136, 142, 

 143, 144, 146. Syns. Early Leader, Hackensack 

 Nutmeg, Improved Hackensack, Large Hacken 

 sack. Large Late Hackensack, Late Hackensack, 

 New England Hackensack, Turk's Cap. 

 The Hackensack melon, for a time the most popular 

 green-fleshed melon grown for the New York market, 

 was first distributed about 1882 by Peter Henderson & 

 Co. It received its name from the New Jersey region 

 across the Hudson from New York. It was here origi- 

 nated about 1870, probably as a selection from Green 

 Citron, a variety it most resembled; but it was 10 years 

 later before seed was offered for sale by the trade. 

 As grown by the early gardeners it was also known as 

 Hackensack Nutmeg, or Turk's Cap. It has remained 

 in cultivation these many years and although known 

 today as Large Hackensack it continues to be one of the 

 largest and finest of the green-fleshed sorts. 



At Geneva, Hackensack can be considered a mid- 

 season variety, reaching maturity about the same time 

 as Bender's Surprise and 10 days to 2 weeks later than 

 Early Green Nutmeg and Jenny Lind. The fruits are 

 similar in shape to those of Early Green Nutmeg and 

 somewhat like those of Montreal Market in shape and 

 character of netting. It differs from the latter in being 

 more distinctly oblate, somewhat smaller, and more 

 yellowish green in flesh color. It is about a week later 

 than Extra Early Hackensack, and is larger, more 

 coarsely netted and interlaced, and less uniform in 

 degree of ribbing than that variety. 



Plant vigorous: vines moderately heavy and coarse; branches 

 many. 



Fruit moderately large, 5 1 j-6 x 7-8 inches; weight 5-6 pounds. 

 Shape distinctly oblate, occasionally somewhat lopsided, blossom 

 scar conspicuous; ribs prominent, 2 inches broad at the medial; 

 furrows moderately broad, deep and smooth. Netting abundant, 

 interlaced moderately coarse; cork heavy, distributed uniformly 

 over the ribs, base and apex; interstices moderately deep. Skin 

 color golden yellow, mottled profusely with green. Flesh light 

 green blending into yellowish green near the cavity, moderately 

 thick, 1 ' 2 inches; texture coarse, very fibrous, moderately juicy 

 and soft; sweet, rather highly flavored and mildly aromatic; quality 

 fair to moderately good. Cavity medium large, 3 x 3'n inches, 

 circular in cross-section. Rind thick, '4 inch, medium strong and 

 moderately tough. 



Hale's Best. Refs. 29, 36, 37, 54, 58, 64, 65, 77, 78, 

 79, 81, 95, 105, 109, 110. 121. Syns. Early 

 Imperial, Early May, Extra Early Hale's Best, 

 First on the Market, Giant Wonder Gem, Gold 

 Dollar, Golden Ice Cream, H. B., Imperial 50-15, 

 Netted Nugget, New Ideal, 101 Special, Pink 

 Queen, Prizetaker. 

 The discovery of Hale's Best was due to the alert 

 observations of I. D. Hale of California. Mr. Hale at 

 one time lived at Rocky Ford but moved to California 

 and was a representative of the C. B. Weaver Co. of 

 Chicago, one of the largest cantaloupe distributors operat- 

 ing in the Imperial Valley. According to Mr. Hale's 



