-2-


planting in Florda is not-recommended. tbe-hybrtds 'included in
tests were op Y i 'Sweetmeat-.--Trtple Sweet Seedless',
 'Tri X-313', 'amily Fu,- al--Charleston', and 'Summer Festival'.
 Other varieties which-L k-ht t-resistance include 'Garrisonian',
 :'Florida Giant', 'Petite Sweet', 'Klondike Blue Ribbon', and 'Peacock'.
 Varieties with a high level of resistance to Fusarium wilt include
 'Louisiana Queen', 'Summit', 'Calhoun Gray', and 'Smokylee'. However,
 internal quality of 'Louisiana Queen', and 'Summit' is poor. Under
 optimum conditions 'Calhoun Gray' produces good quality fruit but
 moderate stress conditions result in poor fruit quality. 'Smokylee'
 fruit have excellent flesh quality including high sugar levels and
 fine texture but white seed, poor seedling vigor, susceptibility to
 sunburn, and an internal flesh breakdown with excessive rainfall have
 limited commercial plantings. 'Allsweet' has a level of wilt
 resistance comparable to that of 'Crimson Sweet' as well as excellent
 internal appearance and quality; however, it matures too late to be
 acceptable by most Florida growers. 'Sweet Princess' fruit have a
 somewhat higher quality than 'Charleston Gray' but yield is generally
 lower. Seed of 'Sweet Princess' are quite small and it has been
 difficult to obtain an early uniform stand. 'lopride' a recently-
 released variety from Iowa has a high level of resistance to Fusarium
 wilt but ripening in Florida has been uneven and quality generally
 has been poor.

 Total.marketable yields, mean fruit weight, and soluble solids contents
 of mature fruit of several varieties are presented in Tables 1 to 3.



 Table 1. Total marketable yields of several watermelon varieties
 at Leesburg, 1969-1976.

 Yield, tons/acre
 Varieties 1969-1976: 1975 1976

 lopride 27.9(4) 43.6 25.8
 Calhoun Gray 31.9(2) 38.2 25.6
 Louisiana Queen 23.4(6) 35.5
 Smokylee 21.3(8) 31.2 22.2
 Charleston Gray 20.5(8) 36.6 20.8

 Crimson Sweet 18.8(8) 33.6 20.0
Allsweet 20.8(5) 30.2 23.0
Jubileeb 18.0(8) 26.6 7.3
Sweet Princess 16.0(8) 26.5 13.3

a Value in parentheses indicates the number of years the variety
 was evaluated.
 b Jubilee grown from standard commercial seed.