STOKES SEED FARMS COMPANY 



MOORESTOWN 



NEW JERSEY 



White Antibes Winter or Honey Dew Melon 



No. 518. Days to Maturity, 150. A variety, the origin of 

 which has been erroneously described by aknost the entire American 

 seed trade. The story would be interesting if true, but has been 

 conclusively proven otherwise by Dr. D. N. Shoemaker, of the 

 Bureau of Plant Industry of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. 

 The well-kxiown French seedsmen, Vilmoria, Andrieux & Co., have 

 listed the melon, White Antibes Winter, for a number of years, and 

 it might have been purchased long ago by any American seedsman. 

 It is a variety which has been grown extensively for years in the 

 south of France and more recently in Algeria for foreign shipment. 

 The original fable started with one of these melons, which was eaten 

 in a New York restaurant. The seed was saved and finally 

 reached Mr. John Ganger, of Swink, Colo., who planted it in 

 1911 alongside of the Netted Gem, thinking that the two would 

 hybridize. The seed was saved and the following year was 

 planted beside a Casawba, and it was Mr. Gauger's behef that 

 this also hybridized. Dr. Shoemaker has proven conclusively that 

 there was no hybridization and that the melon which Mr. Ganger 

 successfully raised and marketed a car of in 1915 and was sold as 

 the Honey Dew Melon was nothing but the pure original strain 

 of White Antibes Winter. This melon was popularized by Charles 

 Weaver, a Chicago broker, and in the short time it has been on 

 the market it has found an exceptionally quick popularity. Mr. 

 Ganger is undoubtedly the man who is responsible for popular- 

 izing the melon in America, but he is not the first man to grow it 

 here, inasmuch as there are several records of its having been grown 

 experimentally on several occasions in the United States. 



The Honey Dew Melon develops to a length averaging nine 

 inches and a width of seven inches. It is a light greenish white until 

 dead-ripe when it will turn to a pale yellow. The length of season 

 required for its maturity almost excludes it from culture here in the 

 latitude of New Jersey. However, the melon has such an excellent 

 flavor and has found such a rich sale that we urge all who can do so to 



make arrangements for starting the growth in pots under glass, later 

 transferring to cold frames, which can be removed after danger of 

 frost is over. Unless this precuation is practiced, we do not beUeve 

 it wiU come to maturity on average years. The Montreal Melon 

 growers have had such unquahfied success in producing the Mon- 

 treal Market Melon under a similar plan that we are led to believe 

 that growers in om- own latitude would have unqualified success if 

 similar plans were adopted. The seed offered has been grown for 

 us in Colorado, where this melon annually attains its most perfect 

 growth. California is also producing immense quantities of Honey 

 Dew Melons. Generally speaking, aU melons of this type do better 

 in a commercial way when grown west of the Mississippi River. 



Pkt. 10(5, oz. 15^, M lb. 60i, lb. $2.00, 5 lbs. $9.50, postpaid; by 

 express, 5 lbs. or more, $1.80. 



"CARE IN PACKING 



"Good shipping also depends on careful packing. Only standard 

 containers for shipping should be used. The crate has become the 

 standard container for shipping melons. Crates should be made of 

 clean, smooth, strong lumber, with all knotty and cross-grained 

 slats discarded. Dirty and second-hand crates should not be used. 

 Crates used in the field in harvesting should not be used for shipping. 



"NEED OF GRADING 



"Up-to-date growers take pains to grade their product carefully 

 before packing. A careful grading excludes melons which are 

 poorly netted, also known as "Shckers." It is also essential to 

 exclude melons which are cracked, bruised, diseased, ill-shaped, 

 overripe, as well as those that are immature and those with soft 

 stems. In packing, melons of the same size and grade only should 

 be put in the same container." — U. S. Dept. of Agr. Farm. Bull. 

 No. 707. 



WHITE ANTIBES WINTER OR HONEY DEW (x 1/3) 

 53 



