i think one of them may have been this one: http://sustainableseedco.com/h...

Stacy, it looks like Rick has an inquiry in to Sustainable Seeds and is waiting to see if they respond!

I still haven't heard from Baker Creek.

You probably will, it may just take awhile.

They may be having to do some research, too!

Stacy,

Did you mean that this one might be one of the parental strains that Joe Palmer crossed?

Citrullus lanatus 'Kleckley's Sweet' watermelon
"... thin, green rind, red flesh and white seeds.
Kleckley's oblong fruits can reach 25-40 pounds."

I got three "no"s but Baker Creek has not yet replied.

- - Sustainable Seed Company - - - - - - - no
- - Southern Exposure Seed Exchange - - no
- - Sand Hill Preservation Center - - - - - - no

The best idea so far was from Sustainable Seeds: to ask the USDA if they have hybrid seeds or the parental strains in their seed repository. But the Sustainable Seed Co. said that:
- - - - - - - - - "the watermelon division is difficult to get samples from. "

====
Sustainable Seed Co.

Hi Rick,

The only way you might be able to find this particular variety is through the USDA - they may have it in their seed repository, but the watermelon division is difficult to get samples from.
I'm sorry not to have been of more help, but if you do find that variety, please let us know!

Thank you!

===
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

Hi Rick,
We don't have it, and never have. I believe the Schochler was a hybrid developed in Texas, not sure if anybody is breeding it anymore.
Good Luck on your search

Sean

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
www.SouthernExposure.com
"Saving the Past for the Future"

=
Sand Hill Preservation Center

Richard:

In all of the hundreds of varieties that we have either grown or looked at we have never heard of a watermelon by this name. Sorry we can't help you out.

Glenn and Linda Drowns
Sand Hill Preservation Center
e-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.sandhillpreservation.com
====

So far the scorecard is:

Here is the scorecard so far:

1. Baker Creek - - ?
2. Texas Watermelon Association - - - - ?

3. SeedMan - - - - no - - seeds we tested last year from a farm did not germinate."
- - - - 2nd request to Jim: what farm supplied them last year?
- - - - Jim forwarded our request to that farm - - - ?

4. localharvest.org - - no
- - - - - - Local harvest Forum - - - none yet

Try next:
USDA Seed Repository, watermelon division - - ?

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange - no
Sustainable Seed Company- - - - - - - No. Try USDA. If you do find that variety, please let us know!
Victory Seeds - no, but interested in conserving IF it can be stabilized .
SandHill - - - - - no
SSE - - - - - - - - no

RickCorey said:Stacy,

Did you mean that this one might be one of the parental strains that Joe Plamer crossed?

Citrullus lanatus 'Kleckley's Sweet' watermelon
"... thin, green rind, red flesh and white seeds.
Kleckley's oblong fruits can reach 25-40 pounds."

Yes, that is what I think.

Cool, then we're halfway there already!

The USDA Seed Repository is really cool, but they don't seem to have
Citrullus lanatus 'Schochler'.

I must say I'm surprised that it was not found in either of these.
NPGS or GRIN Accessions
National Plant Germplasm System
Germplasm Resources Information Network

http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/a...

Wait, only FOUR came up for "Citrullus lanatus"? I must be doing something wrong.
http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bi...


These guys published a "How-To" article:
http://billyandanuttama.wordpr...

Not listed at grin and I had never heard of it until it appeared in Plantfiles. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bi... If as stated this melon was developed in the 1920's it was probably stabilized to an OP. Hybrids did not become popular until much later.

>> If as stated this melon was developed in the 1920's it was probably stabilized to an OP. Hybrids did not become popular until much later.

I hope so!

At least someone at NC University who is into Cucurbit breeding documented it, half-way down the Watermelon M-Z list:
http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cucu...

Hmm, I didn't look into their "Watermelon" tab, let's see what I can see!
http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cucu...

12 watermelon breeding companies and 14 watermelon breeding individuals are listed,
http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cucu...

Why didn't I think of Wilhite sooner? Palmer County Texas, "Willhite Melon Seed Farms" back around the 1920s ... I've sent an email.
http://www.willhiteseed.com/ab...

I've also emailed two other breeders I found in the NCU "watermelon" tab.

5. Wilhite (Willhite Melon Seed Farms) http://www.willhiteseed.com/ab...
6. Hollar Seeds http://www.hollarseeds.com/con...
7. Abbot & Cobb http://abbottcobb.com/

Rick, you're the best! And lets keep hoping it's an OP variety!!!!

If we all clap our hands and wish really hard ...

I just keep thinking that if there's any division of PRISM / NSA / Big Brother that monitors watermelon news, we must have put a big spike into their graphs.

[quote=

I just keep thinking that if there's any division of PRISM / NSA / Big Brother that monitors watermelon news, we must have put a big spike into their graphs.



[/quote]

I sure hope so!

Maybe I should worry that I'll be identified as communicating with members of Al-cucurbit, like the Texas Watermelon Society.

I just recently quit court transcribing and all my cases were immigration appeal cases so I had to look up a lot of gangs, terrorists groups, extremist leaders, things like that, when they didn't spell it out for me. I often wondered if my computer was being monitored even though I did have to get fingerprinted to qualify for the work!

Cool!

My mother did some secretary work for the FBI during WWII. She said that she took dictation in prison cells, a few times.

That's cool too! I loved doing it but deadlines got tighter and I was already under a lot of pressure with babysitting and market. Especially since the company was in Annapolis and I am in GA! We used to have to go to the office to pick up tapes. Love the digital so much more!!!

>> We used to have to go to the office to pick up tapes. Love the digital so much more!!!

I can remember that, in the '50s and '60s, it was widely assumed that, as technology made us each more efficient, that we would have higher wages and more leisure.

Instead, the middle class is getting squeezed towards poverty and everyone with a job has to run faster and faster.

Perhaps the economy is run by very devout Christians:
Matthew 25:29
"For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance.
Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them."

Or maybe the top 1% have a lot of power. And unimaginable levels of greed.

One of those two.