DATE:     6/29/00
CONTACT:  Dr. Bill Rhodes, (864) 656-0410
EDITOR:   Giles Singleton, (864) 656-3876
  
Enjoying watermelon
in the 21st century
  
     CLEMSON -- If you are a baby-boomer, do you recall the 
first watermelon that was cut for you at your favorite picnic 
site on the Fourth of July? Did you receive an ample slice 
from a large fruit with red flesh and big dark seeds that 
you spit out as you ate? You probably stowed away the rind 
in the nearest trash can.
     Now you don't have to wait until July Fourth, and you 
don't have to guess at the maturity or the quality. If you 
no longer want to compete with yellow jackets and other flying 
things, you can stay inside where it's cooler. 
     These days watermelons are generally smaller than they 
used to be, and they may be orange or yellow, instead of red. 
Most significantly, the seeds may be missing. 
     Seedless watermelons are sold in most large supermarkets 
year round. These watermelons have less rind and more flesh 
per piece.
     The seedless watermelon was invented more than a half 
century ago, some say by a Japanese scientist named Kihara. 
Others say a Chinese graduate student in Chicago invented it. 
At any rate, when Kihara published his results in the Proceedings 
of the American Society for Horticultural Science, there was 
some reluctance to even publish the article.
     But an American scientist named Eigstii championed the 
work and set about to make an industry out of it. The seedless 
watermelon became common in the Far East far sooner in the 
United States.
     In fact, it has only been a few years ago that the 
seedless watermelon finally became a fixture here. The price 
for a seedless watermelon is a little more per pound, and 
oblong seedless varieties are rare. Unlike the watermelons 
with seeds, all these watermelons are round.
     If you grow seedless watermelons, you know that seeds 
for these watermelons are more difficult to produce and 
don't germinate as well as those seeds you may have enjoyed 
spitting.
     With the seedless watermelon, you get a fruit you can 
put in your refrigerator and eat a month later, if you wish. 
The seedless watermelon lasts much longer than a watermelon 
with seeds, because seeds contribute to the breakdown of 
the flesh.
     There are other positive attributes to the seedless 
watermelon. It is more resistant to many diseases than 
watermelons with seeds. Seedless varieties have a tough 
rind that endures the bumps during shipping. Some varieties 
can be designed more precisely for their growing environment 
and for the consumer. 
     If you're a Clemson Tiger, you may want an orange-
striped fruit that can be eaten at a single sitting. In the 
future, you might just see such a fruit displayed at fruit 
stands in South Carolina where the Tigers prowl.
               *****************************
     If you have questions or comments about gardening, write 
to PSA Media Relations, A-101 Poole Agricultural Center, 
Clemson University, Clemson, S.C. 29634-0129. You might also 
want to look for other "Buds and Blooms" columns under 2000 
News Releases at: www.clemson.edu/psamedia .
                             END