Highlights from 1900 to 1999 
Thirty years ago, on March 2, 1909, The Rocky Ford Cantaloupe Seed Breeders 
Association was incorporated. 
The 1910 catalog said, “The need of this organization was suggested by the many 
letters of inquiry for a reliable source of cantaloupe seed. The plan is to develop 
and produce pedigreed cantaloupe seed and to sell only such.” 
The 1912 catalog offered our first great production, Salmon-Tinted Pollock No. 25, 
which was the first melon with a uniformly salmon colored flesh. 
In 1916 we realized the possibilities for improvement in cantaloupes, for that year’s 
catalog carried this statement, “We do not wish or intend to convey the im¬ 
pression that our seed is all perfection.” 
In the war years 1918-19 our catalog began in this manner, “Ammunition Dump.— 
The most important ammunition in a campaign for better cantaloupes is to 
have the best seed possible.” 
Our “Ten Twenty-Five” first appeared in the 1919-20 catalog. This melon became 
the most widely used variety ever introduced. 
Do you remember the slogan “The full harvest never comes haphazardly” that was 
first used in the 1919-20 catalog? Pause now, in 1939, to consider how true 
this statement still is. 
The 1921 catalog repeated Leviticus 19:19, “Thou shalt not sow thy field with 
mingled seed,” and Paul, “For whatsoever a man soweth that shall he reap.” 
This was true over 3400 years ago, it was true in 1921 and 'it is still true in 
1939. “For whatsoever a man soweth that shall he reap.” 
In 1924 the Hale’s Best cantaloupe was first introduced, but the name did not appear 
in our catalog until 1925. 
The 1926 catalog reminded the growers that “If the growers today were compelled 
to revert back to planting the old varieties of cantaloupe seed in use a decade 
ago, it is doubtful if the cantaloupe industry could survive a single season.” 
Today, in 1939, we can repeat this statement and it applies equally as forcibly 
to the varieties in use in 1926. Study this 1939 catalog to learn what varieties 
are the most advanced today. 
In 1931 we introduced the first improved Hale’s Best—the No. 112. 
In 1932 came the No. 36 Hale’s Best, which soon became the standard “H, B.” 
In 1933 we made an important departure in cantaloupe development and introduced 
the entirely new and different variety—the first of the white skinned strain— 
the Weaver Special. 
The Silver Anniversary Number in 1934 recalled the cantaloupe seed breeding work 
that had “established the Rocky Ford Cantaloupe Seed Breeders Association as 
one of the leaders in plant breeding and development of new commercial va¬ 
rieties of cantaloupes.” 
The now famous “Glodo de Oro” was introduced in 1935. 
Our experience enabled us to immediately recognize the invaluable work of Dr. I. C. 
Jagger and we listed his Mildew Resistant No. 45 in our 1937 catalog and urged 
growers everywhere to try it. 
In 1939 after thirty years of intensive and systematic seed breeding The Rocky Ford 
Seed Breeders Association is more than ever firmly established as the leading 
cantaloupe seed producers of the United States. 
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