10 BULLETIN 1250, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
The disappearance of starch from the seeds seems to be an indi- 
cation of maturity. Table 4 also shows that half-slip melons with 
high refractive indexes usually have little or no starch, and that 
even field-ripe melons with low refractive indexes tend to show 
starch in seeds. The correlation between maturity as judged by 
the refractive index and the starch in the seeds, however, is not so 
absolute as to extend to every melon. Exceptions to the rule in 
- Table 4 are melons 12, 19, 20, 21, and 25, among the field-ripe lots, 
and melons 18 and 24, among the full-slip lots. 
While only small differences in specific gravity and sugar between 
the full-slip and half-slip melons are shown (Tables 2 and 3), distinct 
differences are apparent when dependence is placed merely upon 
the depth of color developed by the starch-iodide test (Table 5). 
Such color tests, however, leave much to the judgment of the person 
making the test, and it was desired to measure the starch in the seeds 
quantitatively to fix a numerical standard. It was difficult to do 
this because of the small quantity of starch in the seeds. Most of 
the samples contained less than 1 per cent of starch and none of 
them had as much as 2 per cent. 
The quantitative measurements of the starch content are shown 
in Tables 6 and 7. For comparison with the percentage of starch, 
the eating quality and the stage of development of each sample, as 
measured by different chemical standards, are shown. The dividing 
line appears to be at about 0.5 per cent. Melons with less than 0.5 
per cent of starch in the seeds are of satisfactory quality, while those 
with larger quantities are questionable or unsatisfactory and probably 
immature. ‘This statement applies to the unstored samples only. 
The starch content of the stored samples is discussed on page 22. 
TABLE 6.—Relation of starch content of seeds to stage of development (Brawley and 
Turlock, 1916). 

Stage of | Solids Stage of | Solids 
Lot No. | develop- | soluble | Sucrose. olerat Lot No. | develop-| soluble | Sucrose Siar 
ment.! | in juice. : ment.! | in juice. S 
Not stored: Per cent.| Per cent.) Per cent. || Not stored— Per cent.| Per cent.) Per cent. 
Be ee et ks sora ap. 13. 1 5. 84 0. 10 contd. 
eae ie HS Sse 12. 6 45 3i1/ . 30 285-4222 1a tS eae 8.5 1. 64 1.10 
AY Cacies Se ESP 13. 8 6. 57 . 20 AE aes Sane Sees 8.5 1305 . 50 
Lb eee hmae ses 10. 7 3. 82 .90 || Stored: . 
lpia iS ee iy 6. 49 alts 286e5.2= SO. 3 <2 11.4 5.12 10 
1S eo a 1S eee 14.0 8. 06 None: 4) 4).7, P20bee 1s ented 11.9 5, 84 10 
ZA) eA ES ere 12.8 6. 41 53 1 ee ee HS—Im 9.5 2. 83 55 
Pi he eae bi [See 12. 4 5. 18 . 20 1 eae a HS—In.- 9.0 2. 37 20 
7) ee ie HS—Im 8.8 1. 94 id 




1 FS, full slip; HS, half slip; Im, immature. 
