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ANTHRACNOSE 
Anthracnose is the most destructive disease oi 
watermelons in the United States; being especially 
severe in the southern states it is said to cause 
more loss than all other watermelon diseases com- 
bined. The Anthracnose fungus can attack all 
parts of the watermelon plant above ground in all 
stages of their growth, but usually shows up on 
the oldest leaves first. The leaves show small 
black spots, which may soon enlarge until the 
whole leaf becomes black and shriveled. Many 
times, whole fields may show these blackened 
leaves in just a few days time. Often, however, un- 
der less favorable conditions to the disease, only 
the leaves at the center of the plant are killed, 
leaving the stem and a part of the vine bare. Dur- 
ing wet weather the spots on the leaves show to 
be an orange-pinkish color and are somewhat 
raised, while in dry weather these spots are gray- 
ish and less noticeable; however, these spots or 
spores are what spreads the disease in wet weath- 
er. This disease is by no means confined to the 
melon vine, but will attack the melon as well. 
When young melons become infected black spots 
appear very similar to those on the leaves. On old- 
er melons the disease causes small watery spots 
with greasy yellowish centers, which become ele- 
vated making the surface of the melon bumpy in 
appearance. To control this disease, it is very 
essential that the seed be treated before planting. 
For development after plants are up, possibly 
originating from untreated seed or from soil of a 
former melon planting, it possibly can be checked 
by the application of Dithane, Parzate or other 
materials at the rate recommended by the manu- 
facturers. Spreading of this disease can be greatly 
avoided by keeping out of the infected fields when 
the plants are wet, as the fungus is easily trans- 
ferred by walking through the vines. However, if 
you live in a section that is very prevalent to An- 
thracnose, we suggest that you plant your crop 
this year to the ‘Congo’ watermelon which is 
definitely resistant to Anthracnose, but not en- 
tirely immune to this disease. See page 5 in this 
catalogue for full description. 
FROM A TEXAS CUSTOMER, January 9, 1950— 
| am enclosing my check for two pounds of your Desert King Variety No. 1 watermelon seed. You 
may remember my writing you last year about selling $700 worth of Sugar Loaf melons, grown from 
one pound of your seed. I wish to state that I sold over $1,000 worth of Desert King watermelons 
grown from one pound of your seed on the Waco market this past season. I believe this should be 
somewhat of a record. My Desert Kings were planted early and had them weighing up to 60 pounds 
each. Also have Sugar Loafs by the load every year early weighing up to 75 pounds each. 
THE PICKLE WORM OR MELON WORM 
This pest seldom reaches any important stage in 
any area north of Missouri, but south of that line, 
it is often a difficult problem. It confines its work 
largely to Squash, Cantaloupe and Cucumber. 
The adult of this pest is a beautiful moth, with a 
wing spread of about one inch, brownish in color 
with a semi-transparent area in the middle of the 
wing. The melon worm may have three or four 
generations per year, requiring about a month to 
pass from the egg to adult stage. It lays small, 
flat elliptical white eggs, mostly on the blossoms, 
blossom buds or tender tip growth. Hatching in 
three to five days the young larvae soon begin 
their work. Although the damage of the young 
caterpillars may be considerable to the foliage and 
blossoms, the greater damage occurs to the fruits; 
as they become more mature, they bore into the 
melon, feeding as they bore. Since this is true, 
arsenical sprays are of very little value, contact 
poisons, such as nicotine, are also of little value. 
Therefore, naturally the preventive methods are 
most effective. The moths being strong fliers ro- 
tation of crops is almost futile. But destruction of 
infested fruits helps throughout the season and 
prompt destruction of vines and immature fruits 
after the crop has been gathered will reduce the 
number of moths to appear next season. Deep 
plowing during the fall and early winter will 
destroy many of the hibernating pupae. The above 
described predatory pest may be known in your 
particular section as the Cantaloupe Borer. 
“Good Pure Seed from Grower to Grower" 
"We Cover the Globe" 37 
