The morning news., 1889-05-22
PREPARING FOR THE MELONS.
The Savannah, Florida and Western
Gn..lne RsAaY 70 Move Uhs Crop.


aad Western railway was seen by MORN
ING News reporter last night just before
his departure for Atlanta, whsre be goes to
attend a nesting of officials Of the different
| ccn ec,i0g lines Ia refereace to fur iishi g
! cars for the mov5me It OF watermelouS to s
season. SUIT Fleming was accompanied
/ by Traffic Manage Owens, Assistant Supt.
/ Aveil q General Freight ard Passenger
/ Agent Hardes and Stenographer 10 e..
! The meeting is called for II O'Clock today
al the Kmball mouse, IN Atlanta,
/ In reply 10 a question as to who Will be
| pVese { at this meeting and wn t are its
! objects, Capt. Flemi & said: There will
! b. present the general manage and super
! inteudentS, as ell ss u re reseAtatIve Of
! the traffic department of tire different Gu
pectiI z iInss Of the ~avannah, Florida and
| We,tern railway. The object of the meet
ing is to nave a general dlIcussioa of the
equirements for the movement Of the
mel ms, that each official may become
thorough bly, alive to the requirements, ami to
discus ways and msals to fur ish cars, and
10 orange so far as possible 10 provide fa-
cities that will alike be satisfactory to TIE
growers aud the railways. These meetings
have been called for years back about
month or S. Y weeks before the movement of
melons bsgins, 10 interest the cOnnecti 2
lines of the Savannah, Flori la and Western
railway as to the handling Of crop You
wi bear IN mind that the melon crop has
to be handled in about six weeks. La
year we handled about 5000 cars
of meloas on the line of the Sa-
vannah, Florida and Western railway
in connection with the movement of the
other freight The movement OF these
melons req Ilred very prompt :Cion oa oar
art, the full co-operatiol OF the con-
nec,i g ines, which am glad to say that
We received
DO you have much difficulty in the
mo ement of these cars'
1T requires a great deal OF care and at.
tention, and we IA uGd it advisable for
years st to put an official of the road at
about the center Of the melon district,
having us headquarters thera during the
me on season. This officer has special
officers TO travel over the melon district
every day, looking into the wants of the
shipper, S as to keep him supplied wi
cars. 1t reQuir a great deal OF attention
and forethougnt to handle this business
promptly. You will no ice from the forms of
TAI y reports the number of cars loa ie at
the various stations, also tae nun Der of cars
n pped 10 all points. From tnese you can
see tnet tae butl esI Is peculiar in its na-
ture. You will notice that the report Of
the number of cars shipped is posted up in
a conspicuous place at al stations within
the melon district on the line of our al,
that shi pers may see jus. what cars hav.
gone to the various points the day before
Also giving the quotatlo Of prices and ths
condition in whlca the cars arrive. This
report ables the shipper t. know how the
market is being 'upplied, and be can gauge
himself accordingly"
'Is the melon business a growing business
on the line of your road!"
Il believe that it is. We were the first
road to commence this business We RS ago.
We commenced by han ling about 500 cars
per year, and we fostered it in such man.
ner by giving So much care in the handling
OF tie business that tie growers were en-
couraget to increase the a,reage to suca an
extent that now the cars are shipped by tle
thousands. The total number of cars of
melons shipped from Pelham from 1885 20
1888 inclusive, was as follows:
Cars
80 '''''''''''''' --''s.s.'....
1856. 6................... ............. 80. l6
1855 ......-............2
OF the 2l7 cars shipped in 1888, they were
s lpoed as follows:
Ventilated cars. Observation-Disclosures, 147
Box cara, Slated. 20
2l7
"How do you know the con iitiop of tas
cropG"
q have weekly report made to us by
the age IS along the line Of road as to the
co dition of the crop, and by this we are
guided We k ow ia general way about
how many acres it takes to N Ike a car load
Of melons If the season is COOL it will
axe less number Of acres to make a car
load than if the seasons are not good"
How is the acreage this year, compared
with last year"
There is a less acreage on the line of the
Savannah, florida an Western railway
nan last year, but on the other lines, the
South western railroad and the Georgia
Southern aud Florida railway, understand
the e IS greater acreage than last year,
DO YOU think there will De any scarcity
Of cars this yearp
Il think not, as answers to all CORES
po1delce from connecting roads indicate
that they will furnish full supply of cars,
and have no doubt at they will, as they
are aow storing cars at the various stations
on our lns from which meloas are shipped.
believe that the crop on the Savanna
Florida I'd Western railway will BE- moved
promptly, and that the growers will realiz
good prices for taslr crops"