The evening world., 1888-07-12

Plenty of Interesting Things to Tell
About It-Wher" Melons Come From and
How They Are Valued.
Fruit or vegetable? Which are they. T.
doesn't make the least difference to the man
who drives a large, sharp knife through tho
dark rind and shows the rudy interior with
the jet black seeds. He knows how it tastes.
and his interest in the watermelon is not a
scientific one.
The wa. ermelon crop is quite a feature Of
The melons begin to come into
the market towards the end of May, and they
continue to come until November. Tho
frosts kill them. Florida sends the first sun
ply. The fru I IA sed i'll the Sta Q south of
the Indian River and in some of the central
conn les is sent o Jn ksonvi lie merely for an
exhibit in the very beginning of the season.
A New York Buni ace who wished to secure
one OF the very first watermelons for his
Ia lie. offered $40 TOR one of these emerald
beauties seut to Jacksonville. His offer was
declined.
As he season continues. the melons are
sent from points further north. Havana and
Key West contribute II quota to the market.
Then the Georgia melons come along and
they are the finest which are sent. Then
Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, and last of all, Long Island, send in
their products.
A 6 cd watermelon has a thin rind, a red
m nnd iS %l SlSSk s %gcA f b a tiG r. mo sss cha &c e.
excellence of a watermelon. except a good
sharp knife. Cut it in two, and you can tell
what 1t is. Hold it in your hand n it came
from the vine, and nobody cun tel with GER
tainty. Negroes pretend to know, ana they
do hit it oil very frequently, but it is by in
stinct.
AS to the quantity of watermelons that
come to the New York market, 1t is lmpossi-
BILE to give the exact number, but some idea
NAV be g lthered from the fact that one days
contribution in one season was 90, 600!
Sloop~. sailing vessels, steamships, all bring
in the fruit.
The watermelon is in appearance one of the
coolest things in the world, with its dark
green rind, vet by n sort of paradox it grows
in sandy soil.
New Jersey furnishes one of the very best
varieties of waterme on. 1t is called the
Gypsy. or Mountain Sweet. 1t is a long,
striped neon, with hin rind and sweet,
juicy meat.
W~atermelons are sold by their size. A
dealer does not weigh them, but he approx
mates the price to the size. Fifteen or 20
cents to 40 or so cents is the range of prices.
Eighteen or twenty pounds makes a good:
sized melon. A prominent marketman said
he had once met with a ninety-pounder!
There is one man in New York who deals
in nothing but watermeIons during the sea-
son.
The fruit does not decay SO readily as some
other, and will keep n week or nj 10 days, and
there is a process by which the melon can be
preserved much longer. This consists in
vanishing it, thus excluding the air. A
melon may be kept for two months by this
means.
One of the fixtures which amuses o trav-
eller who Is delayed i'll Norfolk during the
summer is to see the boats come in, laden
with waterme ons, and be unloaded. A line
of darkies is formed from one of these boats
to the hold of some Northern steamer, The
melons are thrown fr III hand to hand along
the chain, the negroes enliyening their occu.
patton by quaint cries.
Occasiona ly. a melon is dropped. This
accident, indeed. may be counted on to a
the fruit, and genera ly the melon which
: fal S Is II remarkably fine specimen. When
u it drops and breaks there is a rush of black
; boys to the spot. II wild confusion of legs
and arms, and then the boys extricate them
: each with a half consumed bit of melon in
his paws.
1t is enough to make ones mouth water to
see n darby burrow into a large piece of sue
. appears in it, and it is disposed of with q
. quickness to make one hold his breath. II
there is any pure. unalloyed happiness in this
n world, 1t IL had WHEN II darby effects a com
bnatiOn with Il fine
There are not many ways of preparing the
fruit. 1t is nearly always simply cut into
large sections, and eaten without any condl
q ment hut at IA swell dinner u melon is treated
in this way: A piece is cut out of one end,
Then with II long knife the red meat ii
: pierced, so as to make IT easily permeable b,
y liquid, and champagne or brandy Is poureC
into it. The plug is thin replaced and the
. melon frozen. When n party of eight get 6
good sized melon, with MI it can hold Of
brandy, they are apt to get loaded" with
ont knowing how it has happened to them.
a On Il hot day there is nothing in the way o
fruit more inviting than n fine watermelon
and the standard chestnut" about 1T
deadly effect is greatly exaggerated. Eater
moderately, there is no danger i'll the fruit.
Just now he watermelon merchants arr
up in arms a-anst the railway companies
J. and a famine i'll the succulent fruit is threat
pe ened. The fruit importers say that the Penn
= svlvonia Railroad Company and the Ocean
Steamship Company of Savannah, who EMO.
almost n monopoly of the watermelon trade
have raised the rae of freight until 1t Is NJ
longer possible to do business at a u .otit.
The rates from the South to this city ar
$50 n carload. nd the carload has just beef
q limited TO 20, 900 pounds. This often bring
the freight TO $3.50 or $3.50 n car. which i
more than the value of the fruit. Conse
Quentiy the importers often refus o to recerv,
them, and the company then sells the frui
at auction Mt n sacrifice, thus lnIuring tn
trade.
The importers have decided not to orde
pny more melons from the South till tn
freight rates are reduced.
"a Decided Hit"
10 the Editor of IN. Fronting Worii!