When I was a kid, watermelons had seeds. We kids used to sit on the back steps in the late August evenings, juice dripping up our arms, seeing how far we could spit the melon seeds. I imagined that all the seeds would sprout, transforming our back yard into a mass of tangled watermelon plants, all heavy with fruit. Then some cowboy decided that watermelons would be better without seeds. The new seedless melons are always labelled with a disclaimer, though: "May contain an occasional seed". I take hope from that.