XXII 
THE EARTH’S BIGGEST FRUIT 
I SN’T IT ODD that the largest fruit produced by any 
plant in the world grows on a weak and sprawling vine 
that is scarcely able to rear itself a foot from the ground! 
The pumpkin, it appears, is the largest of Nature’s 
seedpods — for all fruits are merely cases for their seeds. 
Not so big but possibly heavier is the watermelon. Both 
of these grow on spindling and trailing vines. The vines 
are much alike, for these plants are cousins, each being a 
gourd in a modified form. 
The very weakness of the vines that produce these 
fruits is an aid to their growing large. If a tree grew a 
pumpkin, it would have difficulty in hanging it in safety 
and in keeping it from swinging about and injuring itself. 
These vines that sprawl on the ground do not need to sup¬ 
port their fruit. They have but to lay it on the ground 
and let Mother Earth bear the burden. With the fruit 
lying there, they can pump nourishment into it and let 
it grow to a large size. 
Even the cantaloupe is larger than almost any of the 
fruits of trees. It also is related to the pumpkin and 
grows on an earthbound vine. 
The origin of the pumpkin, which is the biggest of 
fruits, is a matter of controversy among the scientists. 
There are those who maintain that it is a native Ameri¬ 
can, as are the potato, the tomato, the corn of the fields, 
and other crops that have come to be of outstanding im- 
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