The morning news., 1890-07-04
GEORGIA MELON FIELDS.
WHERE THEY ARE AND THE ACRE
AGE OF THEM.

The Melon Exchange and the Good
Work it Does-The Time Occupied In
Growing and Harvesting the Mel
ons-Interesting Statistics.
good tempers the wind to the shorn
lamb" This beautiful apothegm, so often
improperly ascribed to the pen OF inspira-
tion. is nevertheless as true as it is trite
Even in the midst of direst calamities there
is seldom lacking some amelloratlng feat
urea few mercy DROPS In the cup OF
aff1iction - well grounded hopes for the
future: in short, that "silver lining to the
cloud. y however black and Opaque, which q
benignant Providence rarely fails to reveal
to the despairing vision of suffering hu-
manity.
Never was the above truth more strikingly
exemplified than in the case of the impov-
erished south, when left at the close OF the
war between the upper and neither mill
stones of federal cruelty and oppression
Her homes desolated, her servants forcibly
emancipated, her barns empty, thou
sands of her best citizens disfran-
chised. the ballot under the control
of an armed soldiery, federal
satraps ruling the country, backed by
host of provost marshals; indeed, Cimmer-
ian darkness seemed to overshadow the
future, and the voice Of lamentatlon was
heard in the land. Just then the discovery
of the phosphate beds Of South Carolina
sent Joy to the hearts of impoverished
farmers and opened up big source OF rev.
enue Next, in quick succession, came the
development of the mineral wealth of the
south, the utilizing of her balmy climate
for the supply of early vegetables to north
erp latitudes the advent OF the LeConte
pear, the orange and the juicy early peach,
and last, but not least,
THE MELON INDUSTRY.
These, each and all of them, have inl-
parted new hope and vigor and rapidly in
creasing prosperity to the people OF this
section of the south. But it Is to the merits
of the crisp, refreshing and delicious Geor-
gia watermelon that the attention OF the
reader is now specially invited. Always
favorite fruit at home, il was not, however,
until in the summer of 1876 that the expert
ment of shipping them to other states for
sale was made.
The honor of this venture should be
shared equally by W. r. Talley, ESQ.,,
president of the melon association, and Geo.
r. McRee, Esq, of Valdosta- In both in
stances the result was disastrous failure.
Then, ''the bottom" of the project having
apparently dropped out" hiatus Of sew
eral years interviewed, and it was not until
in 1884 that 1t was revived.
The outcome of shipments then was varia-
BILE and extremely precarious. In few in
stances, where the agents were honest, and
there CHANGED to be demand in the market
TO which they were sent haphazard. the re-
turns were Unexpectedly large. This gave
a great impetus to the business, and melons
were hurried for ward In close box cars,
carelessly assorted and packed. The result
was that in the majority Of cases not only
did the growers receive no profit, but they
were actually out Of pocket. AS late as
1888 the board of health Of Chicago oon-
demned seventy carloads of melons 30 be
dumped into the lake in a single week. OF
course the shippers were out of pocket for
the freight, loading and cultivation of their
melona This was owing to the fraud and
rapacity of agents and the utter lack of Or
ganizatlon among the growers themselves.
One year ago the question was propounded
TO a large gathering of melon rasers at
Camilla, Ga., "How many have realized a
clear profit from their shipmentsm The
answer was, About 25 per cent"
THE MELON EXCHANGE.
But concentrated action and the inaugu-
ration of the Georgia and Carolina Melon
Exchange have wrought a marvellous
change within the vast twelve months
Thus far, owing to the intelligent work Of
the exchange, not a dollar has been lost
upon melon shipments the present season,
but, on the contrary, the growers have
realized profits never before received The
exchange pays the following spot prices,
cash down, to every farmer who delivers a
carload OF melons at the railroad weighing
each eighteen pounds and upward, to wit:
During the month of June ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. S75
From July to July IS. E. ......,. . 60
From July l5 to close of season. n.......... so
The only hardship attending these rates is
the Facts that the weights must conform
Jorlty OF Instances, not more than from
one-thlrd to one-half Of the crop
Will reach that standard. Again
however, the exchange comes to the relief
OF the producer by offering to take charge
OF and market to the best advantage the
remnant OF his crop upon the payment of
customary expenses. Nothing could be
Iairer. The exchange has purchased and
Pald Tor, on the Albany and Thomasville
railroad and the main trunk OF the Sayan-
nah, Florida and Western railway. be-
tween
EIGHTY AND NINETY PER CENT.
OF all the melons that have thus far been
marketed. This has distributed in that acc
tlon hundreds of thousands of dollars with
pea pue copper OF loss to any one. What a
plessing to producer, merchant and other
people. o'1e'
But this is not all. Those melon growers
VINO refused to join the exchange association
nave nevertheless reaped the benefit of the
a:ssociatlon's work, which. by greatly reduc-
ing the noatlng stock on the market IarpeIv
enhanced the demand for it. Thus the shin
nlents made outside Of the exchange have
averaged ayeI, $lOO net per carload to the owner
w. uncut the absorption of so per cent. of
.ne Ootal yield to date, the result might
nave oeen widely different, as the usnai
e'uts would certainly have ensued.
MELON sTATIsTICs-AcREAeE
from the best information on land
eatheIeo In person from the most responsi.
Di1 sources, the total area devoted TO
n ineionS H nS In South Georgia the present SEASON
h ts iy,ooO acres This crop, on account of its
@ oulA and weight, can only be grown within
Sasy reacn OF railway Transportation. n is
tIeIrlDuted t 70 upon the line of the Central svs.
tell, savannah, Florida and Western rail
way Georgia Southern and Florida raii-
way, East tennessee, Virginia and Gaoroia
ai"ay d, ana the Covington and Macon rail
Ny ne banner melon comfy 10
;ntttcnell, which, the melon king. ] 7, Hand
LII Lis m me, has 5000 acres in melons and
VIII VIII snip 1000 carloads, averaging ! o0o
go. Une present season. Pelham. in this
SIounIy, shlps more melons than anv othar
FirtE enVmn point in the world. She will send
a.l4l VI UnIs season $50 carloads. Camilla Re-
more. AioAlng up as many
-. MR.. ]. L. HAND
tbe ~ ene largest individual melon grower in