inferior in quality to the other tj-pes, but is esteemed because it 
comes when the others are largely out of season. In western Asia, 
one variety occurs with fruit which is buried in soil while growing, 
otherwise it never develops a desirable flavor. 
The watermelon comes from Africa, the wild form occurring in 
numerous varieties in the deserts of South Africa. The fruit of 
this wild type varies in size from that of a ball to that of a man’s 
head and is either sweet or bitter in taste. During the winter months 
in these desert regions it is often the sole source of water for the 
cattle caravans. Yellow, red and white-fleshed varieties are 
known, as well as varieties with yellow rinds. The latter facts 
have given rise to the erroneous notion that they easily mix with 
pumpkins. Varieties with melons weighing 30 pounds are not 
uncommon. 
Perhaps next to the apple, no fruit means more to the white 
race, from the standpoint of sentiment, than the grape. In the 
early years of our own country, numerous unsuccessful efforts were 
made to transplant this century-old companion to our soil. But 
it was not until we settled California that it found a congenial 
home. Although more than twenty-five varieties are grown com- 
mercially there, three constitute the bulk of the vineyards: Flame 
Tokay for fresh fruit, Zinfandel for wine, and Alexandria for 
raisins. In 1913, the California vineyards were estimated to cover 
385,000 acres, an area about half the size of Rhode Island. In the 
same year these vineyards produced 6,363 carloads of table grapes, 
in addition to tons of raisins and millions of gallons of wine. Of 
raisins, California produces over half the world’s crop. The 
common white California grapes are Malagas, while the reddish- 
black late grape is the Emperor. The so-called dried or Corinth 
currant is a small grape which is successfully grown only in 
in Greece, though numerous attempts have been made to make it 
commercially successful in California. During the winter, enor- 
mous bunches of fine black, white and red greenhouse-grown 
grapes are to be found in our markets, some of which weigh as 
much as 10 to 20 pounds. More than two thousand varieties of 
the old world grape are known, all of which trace their ancestry 
back to the wild grapes of Western Asia, a region in which to-day 
the wild, unpruned, uncultivated vines clamber over the tall 
trees in tropical luxuriance, producing their richly-colored fruit in 
abundance. Remains of grapes have been found in the ancient 
lake dwellings of northern Italy of the age of Bronze, showing 
that these ancient peoples knew the grape as well as the apple. 
So much for the old world grape— the grape of poetry, romance 
and sentiment. 
The new world grape, of which over 84,000 acres are grown 
within twelve hours ride of our city, has no ancient traditions. Its 
value was only realized when its old world relative refused to 
grow here. So in the last hundred years, such varieties as the 
Concord, Delaware, and Niagara have become commercially im- 
portant. These varieties possibly are hybrids with the old world 
