Rocky Ford enterprise., 1895-10-10
Long Distance shipment Of Cant aloupes,

A lew weeks SINCE Senator SWlnk re-
ceived IN order from u. 8. Hollister, Of
the Continental Oil Co. Of Denver, for
the shipment OF crate OF cantaloupes
to New York City. Desiring to know
something more about this order, we
wrote Mr.. Hollister for tho particulars
and received the following reply:
81 have believed all along that with the
proper selection and handling your
Rocky Ford muskrnelons could be ship
ped long distances profitably, thus en-
larging the field for distribution. My
order to Mr.. Swink was more in the
nature Of an experiment than otherwise.
1 ordered a crate carefully selected, each
melon wrapped in paper and sent for de-
livery to steamboat pier in New York
City, where they would be received by
tho boat and taken some sixty miles up
Long Island Sound for delivery to the
country residence Of gentleman friend
of mine. The report is that they arrived
in perfect condition, the word perfect
being emphasized. The quality was pro-
nounced superior to anything grown in
the East and they gave great satisfaction
rs to quality, all OF which am happy to
report in the interest Of one OF tho Lead
ing industries Of your section"
Since the above was written Mr.. Hol-
lister has received another letter from
the friend to whom the cantaloupes were
sent, from which the following extract is
made:
"The melons kept splendidly. We
had them two and three times q day for
over week, which was o surprise to me,
as thought the length Of time enroute
would result in their keeping only day
CT two. We enjoyed them very much"
This experiment proves that by using
intelligent care in selection and packing
Rocky Ford may have almos' the whole
Union as n market for cantaloupes.
Growing them to perfection and having
such an immense area in which to make
sales, overproduction is an impossibility.
Those growers who mix tho most brains
Il. e., good managemenD in the growth,
picking and shipment of cantaloupes can
not but find the business one Of great
profit.
While on this subject it may be well to
give the other side Of the question. A
Denver gentleman who has always been
interested in agriculture and horticulture,
and who has noticed the shipments from
Rocky Ford to that point, says that not
sufficient care is taken in handling mol
ons. He says:
II have purchased quite o number OF
crates for my own use and have come to
the conclusion that the fruit does not
reach us in as good condition as it ought
to. In nearly every crate that have
purchased there has been from one half
a -, ,ol0 hot ,,r>k
to have been shipped at all, being either
too green or too ripe, or too imperfect in
some particular to be marketable. This
is all wrong, SO far as the interest of the
grower and shipper is concerned. You
may have the monopoly OF the business
now, but other sections will very likely
begin to grow cantaloupes and people
will look to that source of supply that
furnishes the best fruit. Another very
serious question Of complaint seems to
be on account of the melons being bruia-
right will be found to have one side re-
dnced almost to pulp and unfit for
eating when cut open, and this believe
to be on account of throwing it into the
wagon when loading or unloading p-:5r
to Grating. belieYe that the cantaloupe
can be ruined by rough handling as
readily as an apple. 1t is one thing to
make market for superior fruit, but
quite another thing to keep up the repu-
tation Of the fruit so that the market
becomes permanent"
The above quoted items convey very
important lessons of encouragement and
warning to the melon growers of the
Rocky Ford country-lessons which will
be worth thousands of dollars to this
section If given the attention they de-
serve.