Florida Agricultural Experiment Station


 The sizes of the melons of the Leesburg variety have ranged
between 20 and 35 pounds, with most melons falling into the
25 to 30 pound class. In the experimental plots the melons
have not been "pruned" to one or two to the vine, as is com-
monly done in commercial fields. Consequently, it would appear
that uniformly larger sizes would result if "pruning" were
practiced.
 The character known as "white-heart" was not observed in
any of the melons produced in the 1935 experimental field.
Such strains as showed this defect in previous years were dis-
carded. Also, the Leesburg melon has remained comparatively
free from sunburn, and such injury as has been observed has
seldom resulted in rind softening. The keeping quality of the
melons appears very good, as some melons of this variety have
been kept for two weeks after maturity without evident deteri-
oration.
 The chief objections to the Leesburg melon from the com-
mercial grower's viewpoint are the color of the flesh, which
is not so clear red as that of a good Watson, and the white
seeds, which are often considered to be an evidence of imma-
turity. Although these objections are sound in view of the
familiarity of the market with the Watson melon, it is believed
that the high quality of the Leesburg melon will offset them
when it has become better known, and will justify its general
planting, if tests in different parts of the State substantiate
the promise it has shown in the experimental plantings at Lees-
burg.
 GENERAL DISCUSSION
 Some growers have expressed the idea that the introduction
of a satisfactory wilt-resistant melon would result in over-
production and thus ruin the market. Such a conception is
based on a misunderstanding of the problem as a whole.
 In the first place, the reduction in the actual cost of production
per acre would only rarely amount to as much as 25 percent of
the current cost of growing an acre of watermelons, as the basic
costs of land rent, plowing, fertilization, cultivation, and insect
control will remain at approximately the current levels. Some
saving in clearing, fencing, and transportation should result,
but not enough to justify any decided increase in the acreage
devoted to the crop.
 It is also probable that it will never prove advisable to attempt
to grow watermelons successively for a long period of years on