86 



THE VEGETABLES OF NEW YORK 



size and nearly a perfect globe shape. This strain 

 replaced the older Delmonico and was considered rather 

 superior in quality, but the variety was not offered after 

 1906. 



Perfection. Refs. 22, 23, 26, 33, 38, 39, 48, 53, 60, 61, 

 62, 73, 88, 91, 96, 97, 99, 100, 101, 105, 107, 124, 

 125, 133, 140, 144. Syns. Mammoth Perfection, 

 Minnesota Perfection, New Princess, Princess, 

 The Princess, Yellow Fleshed Perfection. 

 The Perfection melon appears to have been intro- 

 duced by Wm. Henry Maule, Philadelphia, Pa., in 1889. 

 According to the story in their catalog for that year, 

 seeds had been secured from a customer from Chenango 

 County, N. Y. The variety was rather widely cataloged. 

 A very similar melon was offered in 1892 under the name 

 Princess by Johnson & Stokes of Philadelphia. This 

 was said to have originated as a chance seedling in a 

 field of melons near Boston, Mass. 



Fruit medium large, 6-7 x 5-6 inches; weight 4 , o-6 pounds. 

 Shape short oval to nearly globular, slightly depressed about the 

 base, apex full; blossom scar obscure; ribs moderately prominent, 

 l 1 -1 ! inches broad at the medial; furrows medium broad, deep 

 and smooth. Netting abundant, coarsely interlaced; cork heavy 

 and rather uniformly distributed over the ribs; interstices moderately 

 deep. Skin color deep orange sparsely mottled with green. Flesh 

 orange yellow; moderately thick, lj<&— 1% inches; texture coarse 

 and fibrous, soft and juicy; very sweet, highly flavored and mildly 

 aromatic; quality good to very good. Cavity moderately small, 

 3-3 \ ■_> x 2-2 J L > inches, circular in cross-section. Rind thick, } j inch, 

 strong and moderately tough. 



Persian. Refs. 3, 15, 22, 30, 38, 57, 58, 92, 105, 108, 

 109, 110, 127, 133, 139. 



Although a great many varieties of this type are 

 grown in Asia Minor, there are few grown in this country. 

 The most important sort is known as Persian or Armenian 

 and is of chief importance in the hot valleys of southern 

 and central California and in Arizona. The Persian is a 

 large fruited sort, 7-10 inches in diameter in both dimen- 

 sions, nearly globular in shape, without ribs, and profusely 

 and uniformly covered with a rather light, moderately 

 broad netting. The flesh is very thick, pink in color, 

 very fine textured and, when properly harvested and 

 stored, has a good flavor and distinctly pleasant aroma. 

 When allowed to remain on the vine until a partial 

 slip of the stem is possible, the skin assumes a yellow or 

 a slightly red tint. Fruits picked for long shipments, 

 however, have a moderately dark green skin color. 



The Turkish melon is another of this type, but is 

 oblong in shape and distinctly ribbed. It is of little 

 importance in American trade at the present time. 



Pineapple. Refs. 20, 24, 26, 38, 42, 44, 45, 46, 90, 92, 

 93, 108, 133, 138, 142. Syns. Gautner's Pine- 

 apple, Green Fleshed Pineapple, Improved Pine- 

 apple, Murray's Pineapple, Netted Pineapple, 

 Pineapple Citron, Rocky Ford Pineapple. 



The name occurred in the catalog of Breck, 1838, 

 and G. Thorburn & Sons, 1824. Little is known about 

 the variety, for the descriptions in early catalogs were 



short and since there were few varieties known, com- 

 parisons with similar sorts were not possible. Hovey in 

 1859 describes Pineapple; as " Green flesh, sweet, a 

 superior variety." In the Gardeners' Chronicle of 1841 

 it is mentioned as a desirable variety. Undoubtedly the 

 type as known in early times changed somewhat, and 

 the name was later used for some of the Nutmeg, Citron, 

 and Netted Gem strains. 



Pollock 10-25. Refs. 15, 17, 36, 54, 58, 64, 65, 72, 78, 

 79, 95, 105, 109, 110, 129. Syns. Golden Pollock, 

 Improved Pollock, Missionary Belle, Mission Bell, 

 Pollock, Pollock Rocky Ford, Queen of Gems, 

 Rust Resistant Pollock, Ten Twenty-five. 



While working to improve the separate strains of 

 Pollock No. 25, P. K. Blinn and James B. Ryan selected 

 and planted separately seed from melons with thick 

 salmon-colored flesh. After five years one of these 

 strains proved to be superior and was in 1916 named 

 Salmon Tint Pollock 10-25 and introduced by the 

 Rocky Ford Cantaloupe Seed Breeders Association. For 

 ten years this strain was the standard of comparison for 

 all other varieties in the Rocky Ford group. 



The variety is 5 or 6 days earlier than Texas Cannon 

 Ball, in season with Rocky Ford and Edwards Perfecto, 

 and 6-8 days later than Sugar Rock. It is much like 

 Rocky Ford in exterior appearance, being somewhat more 

 uniformly globular than that variety and the flesh has a 

 larger percentage of orange color flesh near the cavity. 



Plant moderately vigorous; vines moderately heavy; branches 

 moderately few. 



Fruit moderately small, 5-5 ] 2 x 5-5 ] 2 inches; weight 1 J j-2 

 pounds. Shape globular, symmetrical; base full, occasionally 

 slightly extended; apex even; blossom scar obscure; ribs and furrows 

 absent. Netting abundant, finely interlaced; cork moderately 

 heavy, distributed evenly over entire fruit; interstices medium deep. 

 Skin color dark green. Flesh light green with a prominent salmon 

 orange area about the cavity, medium thick, l'j'-l'u inches; texture 

 slightly coarse and fibrous, moderately firm and rather juicy; sweet 

 and sprightly, rather highly flavored and pleasantly aromatic, 

 quality good. Cavity small, 2} » x 1 ;, 4 inches, triangular in cross- 

 section. Rind medium thick, Yi, inch, strong and tough. 



Pollock No. 25. Refs. 15, 58, 64, 105, 109, 110, 121, 129. 

 Syns. Gold Fleshed Rocky Ford, May view 

 Favorite, Orange Fleshed Rocky Ford, Orange 

 Flesh Pollock, Pink Fleshed Rocky Ford, Pink 

 Meat Netted Rock, Pink Meated Rocky Ford, 

 Pollock Pink, Rocky Ford Pink Meat, Salmon 

 Flesh Eden Gem, Salmon-fleshed Netted Gem, 

 Salmon-fleshed Rocky Ford, Salmon Tinted 

 Pollock, Salmon Tinted Pollock No. 25. 



The Pollock type has been gradually developed and 

 improved at Rocky Ford, Colorado for the last 40 years. 

 In 1895 J. P. Pollock at Holbrook began to grow melons 

 and started selection of a new type from the Rocky 

 Ford or Netted Gem. Mr. Pollock saved seed from 

 plants most resistant to rust and by chance these plants 

 produced fruits which were less ribbed and more heavily 

 netted than the original stock. The selection became 

 known as the Pollock strain. This showed a tendency 

 to some color variation. In some specimens the salmon 



