74 



THE VEGETABLES OF NEW YORK 



report, a certain Japanese truck grower near Brawley 

 invariably had the first ripe melons from that section. 

 He found that this Japanese had started with several 

 varieties of melons and that he had been saving his own 

 seed from a somewhat mixed assortment of types. Some 

 seed of the very earliest was planted in 1923 at Brawley 

 and proved to be a week earlier than any of the commer- 

 cial sorts grown. Some of these fruits were also shipped 

 to the Rocky Ford Cantaloupe Seed Breeders Associa- 

 tion, seed was saved and planted under the supervision 

 of James B. Ryan, an officer of the company, and again 

 the crop produced the best combination of earliness and 

 good shipping type yet observed. No effort was lost 

 in multiplying the seed rapidly by growing in both 

 Colorado and California, and in 1924 the new melon 

 was designated " Hale's Best " or " H. B." 



The original Hale's Best was slightly mixed in some 

 characters, and continued selection has resulted in the 

 introduction of several well known strains, notably No. 

 10, No. 36, No. 112, No. 9-36 and Seed Breeders, 

 the most recent improvement introduced in 1936. The 

 older type is maintained as the " Old Regular H. B.," 

 or as the " Jumbo Strain." Outstanding characteristics 

 which place this variety at the very top of all shipping 

 melons are its earliness, the attractive well netted fruits, 

 the thick firm deep golden-colored flesh, its sweetness, and 

 the ability to maintain much of its fine quality even into 

 the over-ripe stage. 



Considerable diversity exists between strains of Hale's 

 Best in respect to the number cf days required to reach 

 edible maturity. The average stock, however, may be 

 considered a midseason variety, maturing slightly later 

 than Bender's Surprise and several days earlier than 

 Edwards Perfecto and Superfecto. The fruits are 

 similar to those of Edwards Perfecto, differing from that 

 variety in being more oval in shape and having heavier 

 and more finely interlaced netting. The flesh is slightly 

 thicker and is usually somewhat better quality. 



Plant moderately vigorous; vines medium heavy; branches 

 moderately many. 



Fruit moderately small, 6-6j^ x 5-5' •_> inches; weight 2-232 

 pounds. Shape short oval, often nearly globular, blossom scar 

 obscure; ribs and furrows absent. Netting very abundant, very 

 finely interlaced; cork heavy, distributed uniformly over the entire 

 fruit; interstices deep. Skin color dark green; sparsely mottled 

 with creamy yellow at full maturity. Flesh orange, moderately 

 thick, l\4r\% inches, texture fine, fiberless, firm, rather juicy; 

 sweet, slightly sprightly, rather highly flavored and pleasantly 

 aromatic; quality very good. Cavity very small, 3 x lJ-£ inches, 

 somewhat triangular in cross-section. Rind medium thick, } s inch, 

 very strong and tough. 



Hearts of Gold. Refs. 15, 27, 36, 37, 54, 58, 64, 65, 



78, 79, 105, 109, 110, 121, 123. Syns. Golden 



Hearted, Golden Hearts, Improved Hoo Doo, 



New Arizona, Perry's New Hoodoo, Yellow- 



meated Prize. 



The Osage and the Hearts of Gold muskmelon exist 



today as the result of the careful selection work of 



Roland Morrill of Benton Harbor, Michigan. Crosses 



between Osage and Netted Gem about 1890 produced 



the type now known as the Hoodoo group. The Paul 



Rose, selected from one cross by a grower of that name, 

 became the leading variety of its day. From another 

 cross Mr. Morrill developed the variety which he 

 named Hearts of Gold, and for which he was granted en 

 Dec. 15, 1914, Trade Mark No. 101487 by the Patent 

 Office at Washington, D. C. This melon, while similar 

 to the Hoodco, was slightly different and as the name 

 became more familiar to growers and market men, 

 Hearts of Gold replaced those strains which had been 

 known as Improved Hoodoo, etc. In the catalog of 

 Jerome B. Rice for 1917 the name occurs thuswise, 

 Hoodoo (Hearts of Gold). Maule listed it in 1920, 

 Burrell in 1921, and Ferry in 1924. The variety today 

 is the most popular melon grown in Michigan. 



This is a midseason variety, reaching maturity at 

 Geneva a few days later than Bender's Surprise and 

 Hale's Best. The fruits are slightly larger than those 

 of Hale's Best and differ from that variety in being 

 thicker at the base, less heavily netted, much more 

 distinctly ribbed and more prominently furrowed, the 

 latter depressions usually being entirely free of netting. 

 The flesh is much the same in color but that of Hearts 

 of Gold is somewhat thicker at the base and apex. 



Plant moderately vigorous; vines moderately coarse and 

 heavy; branches moderately many. 



Fruit moderately small, 5'2-6 x 5}:> _ 6 inches; weight 2—2 J 2; 

 pounds. Shape cordate to nearly globular, blossom scar moderately 

 conspicuous; ribs moderately prominent, l 1 2-i 3 4 inches broad at 

 the medial; furrows narrow, moderately shallow and smooth. 

 Netting abundant, very finely laced; cork medium heavy, distributed 

 uniformly over ribs, base and apex; interstices medium deep. Skin 

 color dark green. Flesh orange, moderately thick, 1'2~1 3 4 inches; 

 texture fine, very slightly fibrous, firm, moderately juicy; sweet, 

 somewhat sprightly, rather highly flavored and aromatic; quality 

 very good. Cavity small, 2 r 2 x 2 '4 inches, triangular in cross- 

 section. Rind medium thick, ' g inch, dark green, moderately 

 strong and tough. 



Hollybrook Luscious. 



This is one of the largest of all melons. It was 

 introduced in 1905 by T. W. Wood & Sons, Rich- 

 mond, Virginia, and was named from their home seed 

 farm, Hollybrook Farm. This melon is rather late and 

 probably better suited to conditions farther south 

 than New York State. It is strictly a home garden 

 variety as the melons are frequently misshapen and not 

 attractive in appearance. 



It is a moderately late variety, maturing 4-6 days 

 earlier than Montreal Market, in season with Nixon and 

 Ohio Sugar, and about a week later than Bender's 

 Surprise. It is nearly as oblong as Bay State, decidedly 

 darker green in skin color, more deeply furrowed and 

 less uniform in netting. The flesh is slightly paler orange 

 than that of Bender's Surprise and fully as good quality. 

 Its tender skin and irregularity has limited its usage to 

 the home garden. 



Plant vigorous; vines very coarse and heavy; branches mod- 

 erately few; leaves very large. 



Fruit large, 8-9 x 6*2- 7 inches; weight 6-7 pounds. Shape 

 short oval to oblong, often rather irregular; base full; apex even; 

 blossom scar moderately conspicuous; ribs very prominent, 2j/£ 

 inches broad at the medial, not very uniform; furrows narrow, very 

 deep and smooth. Netting sparse, finely interlaced, often in the 



