The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-07-28
A FAIR YEAR FOR MELONS
The Crop Larger Than Last Year, But
Not as Profitable to Growers.

! $40 &NOL In PGSbCN " ANOe~NA O9SON
Carloads-Only Four or Five Cars
Day Being Shipped Now and Thous-
ands of Melons Rotting in the Fields.
| Assistant Superintendent A. A. Aveilhe
| of the Savannah, Florida and Western
/ railway has returned from Townsville,
where he has been since June u with
corps of train dispatchers attending to
the shipping of the watermelon crop of
| southwest Georgia. He reports a large
crop with fair returns to the growers,
The crop this year was a little larger
than last year. The season began about
ten days later, however, and though the
melons went forward rapidly, the growers
lost the profits they might have made on
the higher prices ruling
during the middle of June.
Prices have dropped now
until the melons are left rotting in the field
| because the returns would not pay the
freight, let alone making profit for the
shipper. Melons can be bought now at
so a car loaded on the side tracks at the
| stations. Supt Aveilhe says that there
are fully 500 car loads of melons rotting
in the fields in Southwest Georgia alone.
| Only few car loads are moving now.
! The Carolina and North Georgia mel
ons have been ON the market for some
time, and as they are able to reach the
markets at less cost than the South
! Georgia melons they, of course, com
mand the situation
THE RATES THIS YEAR.
The average rates for melons by The
car load from Thomasville this season
| have been as follows: To New York via
| the Ocean Steamship Co, SS8; to New
! York via the Atlantic Coast Line Sll3.52;
to Cincinnati 1854 and to St. Louis 500
| a. Melons must bring a good price to
| pay these freights and net profit to the
! grower. On account of the difference in
rates the bulk of the
crop this year went to western
| points. Another reason for this was that
! the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Ocean
! Steamship Company, the two main routes
| to northern points, demanded prepayment
| of freights earlier in the season than
| heretofore. On the lines that did not de-
mand prepayment melons were frequent
| ly sold to pay freight. In these cases the
railroads over which the melons had
| passed pro-rated the returns among them
selves and the shipper suffered the loss Of
his melons. This is always one of the
possibilities in the melon business, how
ever, as consignees frequently refuse to
! receive the melons when the market is
glutted.
The total shipments to date via the Sa-
vannah, Florida and Western railway are
3,535 cars, as against total of 3,447 cas-
for the whole of las season.
WILL NOT REACH 5000 CARS.
The total for the whole season is not
expected to reach 5000 cars, only four or
five cars day being moved now. These
melons have been shipped all
over the United States and Can
ada, shipments having been made
to 1874 different points. The total
number of cars shipped to Canada was 46,
| Toronto taking Is cars, Montreal Q and
Hamilton Z. The principal points to
which melons were shipped and the num-
lows: New York Az, Chicago 247, Gin
cinnati 273, Boston 159, Philadelphia 100,
Baltimore 1913, ST Louis 1872 and Min
neapolis 40 The far western states
were about the only ones which did not
indulge in Georgia watermelOns this year.
Supt. Avellhe does not think the melon
acreage will be increased next year. as
he considers the present acreage sufti-
cient to supply all the demands of the
market.
The chief trouble with the water
melon business - said Mr. Aveilhe lis the
lack of any system of distribution. The
melon growers have no exchange and no
means of regulating the shipments. The
| consequence is that good markets are
frequently glutted with a resulting loss to
everybody concerned, shippers, railroads
| and brokers. A glut at one important
point Injuries the market at other places
and makes it difficult TO maintain prices
The melon growers had an exchange at
Macon tsvo years ago which worked very
I Loo. Ion t,I l,vYN -,
pieces before the end of the season for
some cause.
THE EXCHANGE GOOD THING.
''The Florida fruit exchange at Jack
sonville has been of immense advantage
to the fruit growers Of that state and the
| Georgia melon growers are very much in
need of something of the same kind
IL would be good idea for
| the melon growers to ar
range with the Western Union Telegraph
Company to furnish them daily reports
of the melon movement and the
| receipts at the larger markets.
They could then regulate their ship
ments so as to avoid shipping to points
already well supplied
1t would be well for the melon growers
| if they were TO adopt this suggestion
| superintendent Aveilhe's estimate of the
| melon crop of the state this year is be-
! JNGch C,UOU anu 5,UOU cars AZ d ldlE Is
! innate the sales returned to the growers
about 100000 The railroads of the state
received as much more, 50 that the melon
crop of Georgia brought into the state in
the neighborhood of Sl000,OOO during the
months of June, July and August. This
is quite an important consideration, as the
business comes in the dullest part of the
year.
Supt. Aveilhe says that the farmers of
South Georgia are in better condition
than he has ever known them to be- They
have good corn. crops and are raising their
own meat. Money is not very plentiful
but the farmers are Independent, and
consequently the present financial strin-
gency is not the bugbear that it is to the
city people.
The merchants of Quitman, the county
site of Brooks county, report that instead
of selling corn, as In previous years. they
are buying it from the farmers and ex-
porting il elsewhere.