CANTALOUP CULTURE 
Ryan’s Early Watters was started from 
a single early maturing plant. 
There is plenty of seed saving, but 
comparatively little seed selection along 
systematic lines, and there is still less 
seed breeding for improved hereditary 
traits. Usually twenty-five hills are 
planted in each plat, and all are given 
uniform conditions that the differences 
that may develop may reasonably be as- 
cribed to heredity, and the new selec- 
tions made accordingly. 
A number of the choicest individual 
fruits from the most desirable plats are 
again saved for the next year’s nursery 
test, and the plats that run most uni- 
formly alike along desirable lines, are 
then cut for stock seed. In this way 
the weak traits and undesirable tend- 
encies of any individual plant may be 
eliminated more and more each year, 
while the strong desirable traits are re- 
tained and thus the average uniformity 
gradually increased as far as possible. 
It will readily be seen that it requires 
the same care to maintain a grade of 
quality that it did to build it up in the 
first place, the tendency to deteriorate 
being always present, 
The first nursery grown, before the 
seed had been bred up much, would have 
the appearance of a large checker board, 
because of the many variations. Some 
would be disease-resistant and some not; 
some would be early and some late; some 
prolific and others not, while in netting, 
color of the flesh, and the size and form 
of the fruit, the contrasts would be also 
very marked. 
Aside from improving and combining 
desirable traits, the nursery test for can- 
taloupes has another strong point of 
merit, namely, Keeping the stock seed 
pure. It is evident that if seed from 
individual cantaloupes are planted sep- 
arately in different plats, it would be 
easy for a keen observer to detect the 
presence of a hybrid and thus eliminate 
that plant from being saved for stock 
seed. 
So marked have been the results and 
advantages of the breeding from individ- 
ual plants to secure uniformity and de- 
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sirable traits, that no one who has fol- 
lowed it up intelligently can doubt the 
efficiency of the method; but at the same 
time it is very evident that it takes care 
and a good deal of time to accomplish 
results which at first may seem easy. 
Seed breeding is practical; it is not a 
theory or a fancy, but a reasonable, re- 
sult-producing process. The most success- 
ful farmers are giving it careful consid- 
eration, nor does the improvement of seed 
add a burden of labor and expense, but 
comes as an added asset to the grower’s 
wealth, and increases his pride in his 
crop. 
Comparatively few men are capable of 
producing their seed for if they are grow- 
ing cantaloupes for market, their time 
and attention must be occupied with the 
crop, and to select, cut and cure high- 
grade cantaloup seed requires no little 
training and experience, and some little 
equipment. 
The grower who buys his seed 
should deal directly with a _ reliable 
breeder who is qualified, and is making 
a specialty of growing the crop for seed; 
a grower should not submit his seed order 
for “lowest bid” if he expects to get the 
best seed. 
Conditions and Cultural Care 
Climate 
The cantaloup seems to thrive in 
rather a wide range of soil and climatic 
conditions, being grown to some extent 
in almost all of the states, although from 
the standpoint of money returns, the area 
of very successful cantaloup culture is 
somewhat limited; yet it appears that it 
is more the question of cultural care, 
disease and insect pests, or favorable 
marketing facilities, which determine the 
success of the industry in a given local- 
ity, rather than the specific soil or cli- 
matic conditions. 
Climatic conditions within certain lim- 
its are essential to successful cantaloup 
culture, and the consideration of this 
topic may answer many questions as to 
the adaptability of some sections for 
melon growing. First, there should be 
a tong, hot summer, with about five 
months free from killing frosts, with a 
