740 
dry weather checked his vines some- 
what. 
Some people seem to think that the 
crop should show absolute uniformity; 
this is next to impossible, although a 
study of the ideal representations and 
the elaborate descriptions in some of the 
seed catalogues might convey this im- 
pression. The factis, cantaloupes do vary 
even in the best strains of seed; one can 
frequently find on one vine, one canta- 
loup that is very long, while another 
may be short and round; this is especially 
true if the vine has made an unusual 
growth on account of rich soil or other 
favorable conditions. 
The size of the cavity, the development 
of the netting, and the appearance of 
the cantaloupes will vary on different 
types of soil to some extent, and differ- 
ent seasons will lead the grower to think 
that the seed was not up to standard of 
the year before when the seed was 
equally good, but the season was not as 
favorable in some respects that this grower 
overlooks. The same seed out of the same 
sack has been planted on different days, 
one just before a rain that was cold and 
the other after it had warmed up; one 
came up slowly, small and puny, while 
the other made a fine growth. 
Any influence that tends to retard or 
stimulate the growth of the vines will 
also, in some way or another, affect the 
resulis of the crop; such influence may 
not be serious, possibly only a few over- 
sized melons, making packing a little 
more difficult, but one must expect some 
variations due to environment. These 
may ve favorable or unfavorable, and 
they may or may not be under the con- 
trol of the grower. There is a long list 
of these factors—character of the soil, 
fertility, moisture supply, climate, insect 
pests, plant diseases, and cultural care; 
all of these must be considered and con- 
trolled, if possible, if we would secure the 
greatest uniformity in results. 
Heredity of the seed is another great 
factor influencing results and one that is 
often difficult to determine since there 
are always the two forces, environment 
and heredity, at work, and which of these 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
causes has produced a given effect will 
often be the question. 
The only far way to pass judgment up- 
on the merits of a certain stock of seed is 
to compare its results with those of other 
seed under exactly the same conditions. 
It is the only means of reading heredity 
in any system of plant breeding. The 
methods of plant breeding for the differ- 
ent crops are essentially the same, name- 
ly, a nursery test of the seed from in- 
dividual plants, selected for given traits, 
and which are then grown under uni- 
form conditions to determine their rela- 
tive merit. 
Method of Developing High Grade Seeds 
The method is to select a_ large 
number of individuals, save the seed sep- 
arately and plant in adjacent plats at 
the same time, under as uniform condi- 
tions as possible, to test out their breed- 
ing tendencies—this is called a nursery 
test. 
The individual plant is the unit of 
variation, and hence should always be 
made the unit of selection. The results 
of systematic seed selection have clearly 
shown that there is a wide variation in 
different plants from even fairly pure 
seed, and that the more nearly a strain 
of seed can be the progeny from a single 
plant, the more uniform and strong its 
hereditary tendencies will be, provided 
that the individual plant is not a hybrid, 
in which case it may break up into a 
variety of types; but even in long es- 
tablished strains of pure bred seed there 
is still the continual “reverting” or “breed- 
ing back,” so that it is not uncommon 
to find a cantaloup that is a little “off,” 
so if the general average of the crop is 
pretty uniformly true, one need not sus- 
pect a mixture by the appearance of a 
little variation. 
Sometimes a variation is along very 
desirable lines, for there are numerous 
instances where the selection of the seed 
from a Single plant that seemed differ- 
ent, has been the beginning of a new 
strain much superior to the original; 
such was the history of the disease-re- 
sistant Pollock cantaloup, while the 
