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Udine, Italy

Just a curiosity: anyone knows the breeding method used from Mr. Dill to obtain Dill’s Atlantic Giant? Mutation and selection from one pumpkin (very common breeding for example in apple trees, ex. Golden delicious) or cross between different species of pumpkins? Practically, all the AG derived from one plant or not?

1/21/2003 9:19:23 AM

[email protected]

Good reading would be chapter 3 in Don Langevin's 1st book "World Class Giant Pumpkins". Howard Dill's biography "The Pumpkin King" is another place. The man practically has pumpkin juice running through his veins!
It seems that a Mr. William Warnock of Ontario set the pumpkin growing record in 1903 of 403 lbs. that stood until H. Dill broke it 75 years later. Aparently, H Dill's father worked for Rennie Seed Co. in Ontario. Rennie Seed bought Warnock's pumpkin for $10 & marketted the seed as "Goderich Giant" after the town Warnoch was from.
Howard crossed this seed into another that he and his Dad were growing called "Genuine Mammoth". Through many years of careful breeding, he developed the strain that now bears his name.
In 1979 Howard Dill finally broke Warnock's 75 year old record with the 438.5 Dill. The rest is history.

I'm sure I'm leaving some important detail out, but that's about all I know about the matter.

Steve

1/21/2003 12:34:45 PM

So. Maine

Now there's a date to remember 1903. 1903 -2003 we are comming up on the 100th Annirversary of the Warnock 403.Can it be beaten by 1000 lbs. this year?

1/21/2003 1:44:10 PM

Commack, NY

Nice observation!!

1/21/2003 6:06:36 PM

Key West, FL

well i geuss wait til next year is the right thing to say then isnt it?

1/21/2003 7:15:05 PM

So. Maine

We'll give it our best shot.

1/22/2003 12:46:33 AM

Colorado Hail, CO. Elev. 5,900 FT

If you really want answers to this question, I suggest you attempt to get some answers about how AG's were initially crossed from the early growers. You may run into problems finding some of them, and some growers simply will go to the grave without trying to help answer anything. If you really want to dig deep into this subject, you'll need to find the growers I know of from that era, and they may give you names I do not even know about.
You may know some of the following growers, others you perhaps may not. These are the pre 1993 growers who are responsible for breeding these genetics amoung one another and that may be able to answer your question the best...The Dill's,Stellpflug,Waterman,Ciliberto,Holland,Mombert,Gancarz,Woodward,MacDonald,Barber,Black,McCahill,Williamse,Nesbitt,Mitchell,Orr,Weir,Nelson,Laemmle,Neily,Craven,Hebb,Lavery,Rhodenizer,Brooks,Miller,Salentine,Berard,Keyzer,Spaulding,Ruff, Rose,Johnson,Henderson,Wentzell,Jammer, & Eaton are the all the growers last names who grew 20 years ago.
Your reasearch starts here...Now, just find all these people, get an address or phone number, ask each and every grower questions about hoe they made the crossed they did, and you will have your answers.

1/22/2003 3:34:24 PM

Appalachian Mtns.

This thread won't fit on my computer screen..what's up with that?

1/22/2003 7:46:23 PM

Key West, FL

no spaces, thank marc, lol

1/22/2003 7:49:25 PM

[email protected]

Hey,
Marc's not the only one. I made a mistake. Howard Dill's
Dad didn't work for Rennies as I had thought. Maybe
he was a customer? Could be since he was a grower.
I need to purchase The Pumpkin King. This to me is
an interesting subject. Trivial I supose. But interesting.
I also beleive that the AG's we're all growing may
also have the genes of Hugh's "Squmpkin" floating around
in them too. Or at least I've read something like that.
Time for some solid research on this matter I guess.
Steve

1/22/2003 8:41:28 PM