Good news from Floridian ancestors.

[chancethegardener]

This is what David Shields wrote to me few weeks ago about Florida Favorite: "It was crossed by G. W. Girardeau with the Georgia Rattlesnake melon [“Florida Favorite Watermelon,” Southern Cultivator (March 1889), 127.]"

I don't know why I said 1911 above. The recent article claims that the melon got lost around WWI. I believe that I saw the variety in an old catalog as early as 1911 couple weeks ago, probably one of St Louis Seed Co's. It was also offered by Reuter Seed Co in 1936.

Stabilized or not stabilized, even if it was bred for only 3-4 generations, it is still not identical to the current melon, either, although the current breeder starts with the same F1 generation. What was bred back then hasn't been brought back now. What we have right now is a different melon and actually this is a great thing, especially if the variety is stabilized as a good growing alternative here in Florida (i.e. good flavor, big yields etc). I just don't find it right to advertise for something that actually didn't happen. In the very least, the article is inaccurate.

[mjc]

Originally Posted by chancethegardener

What we have right now is a different melon and actually this is a great thing, especially if the variety is stabilized as a good growing alternative here in Florida (i.e. good flavor, big yields etc). I just don't find it right to advertise for something that actually didn't happen. In the very least, the article is inaccurate.

Close but not the same...a sibling to FF, at best.

And, yeah, it should be promoted as something close, not the same.

It wouldn't surprise me though, that somewhere, FF still exists and is being grown, just as Grandpa's Best or something like that, because it's been grown by one family and saved all this time, but nobody knew what it was.

[chancethegardener]

I agree. I don't have evidence post-1948 but it was probably in circulation after that year, and it may come back like Bradford (also known as Alabama Sweet-I think you are talking about this one) did.

Originally Posted by mjc

Close but not the same...a sibling to FF, at best.

And, yeah, it should be promoted as something close, not the same.

It wouldn't surprise me though, that somewhere, FF still exists and is being grown, just as Grandpa's Best or something like that, because it's been grown by one family and saved all this time, but nobody knew what it was.

[mjc]

Originally Posted by chancethegardener

and it may come back like Bradford (also known as Alabama Sweet-I think you are talking about this one) did.

Yeah, I couldn't remember the name when I was typing up the reply.

It's also very common among fruit trees to find 'lost' varieties under 'family'/local names.

Also, I've found one or two 'probables' for 'lost' tomatoes in the various European seedbanks...