6 
ANDREWS-BURRI PRICE LIST 
WATERMELONS 
4TH OF JULY—The earliest melon of which we are acquainted, as the 
following description will show. It is seemingly of Russian origin and 
first offered to American growers by the Minnesota State Experiment 
Station. We make no claims for its development or origin, but offer for 
the season of 1937 seed carefully grown by an expert grower of this 
wonderful, extra, new, early variety under the name of 4th of July in 
order that we may convey to the grower, who is not acquainted with the 
extra earliness of this variety. The description which follows is very 
authentic and can be relied upon. 
A watermelon that ripens as early 
as nine or ten weeks from planting 
—that is remarkably sweet and 
high in quality — that possesses 
great market appeal—is among the 
newer introductions by the Minne¬ 
sota Experiment Station. 
The new melon, officially named 
Northern Sweet, was introduced in 
this country in 1931, when the seed 
was sent to Minnesota from Russia 
by H. G. Zavoral, a member of the 
Extension Division then engaged in 
work for the Russian government. 
This seed was grown on the Experi¬ 
ment Station plots in 1931 and 
1932, under careful observation. In 
1932 some of the seed was given 
to a successful commercial melon 
grower in Minnesota. He planted a 
few hills as an experiment, not 
thinking that the melon had much 
market possibility. However, when 
the fruit began to ripen, he took 
a few to market, and to his sur¬ 
prise, found they sold very readily. 
In 1933, seed was sent to 45 
growers in various sections of the 
United States, and Canada for a 
test, and the melon was given the 
name Northern Sweet. Reports 
from these growers were most fa¬ 
vorable. The shortest time reported 
for ripening was 63 days. Forty- 
one of the growers considered the 
melon very sweet and high in qual¬ 
ity. 
The surprising thing about these 
tests, according to Professor W. H. 
Alderman, of the Horticultural De¬ 
partment, was the way the North¬ 
ern Sweet was received as a market 
item. They had considered it sim¬ 
ply as an early melon for home 
Garden. However, growers in Ari¬ 
zona, Utah, and the Pacific states 
are using it extensively, and ex¬ 
pect to use it as a winter melon, 
ripening for the very earliest mar¬ 
ket. Its comparatively small size 
seems to be an advantage, rather 
than a drawback to its salability. 
In the Hood River Valley of Ore¬ 
gon, it gives indication of becoming 
the leading variety. 
The Northern Sweet melons aver¬ 
age eight to ten pounds. They are 
an attractive medium green, marked 
with lighter green longitudinal 
striped. The rind is exceptionally 
thin, some times not over X A inch. 
The flesh is dark red, tender and 
medium grained, but tends to be¬ 
come slightly stringy if allowed to 
become over-ripe. The flavor is 
rich and sugary. Growers are 
warned that the melons ripen very 
quickly, and must be picked at 
once. They should watch for ripe 
melons after the ninth or tenth 
week. 
