Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1896-03-20
MELONS FROM DUST.
ONLY FRUIT THAT WILL GROW IN THE
STAKED PLAINS.
Large aud Juicy WatermeIons Produced
on the Great American Desert" Where
1t Never Rains-A Partial Explanation
of the Mystery.

When "a stranger visits these "staked
plains of Texas, he soon learns not to be
surprised at anything be sees. He has heard
of this region all his life as a portion Of
the Great American desert and one of
the driest parts of the world He finds by
actual observation that few crops will grow
here on account of the dryness IL seems
TO be too dry for corn wheat, oats, cotton,
garden vegetables or fruit of any doscrip-
ton. The few farmers i'm the country con-
tent themselves with raising hay or sor-
ghum cane Yet strange To relate there
Is one plant in whose favor nature chooses
TO make an exception. She seems TO have
made a law forbidding food plants TO grow
In this region and then arbitrarily 20 have
suspended this law in one instance. To
heighten the audacity of this move on her
part she seems To have racked her brain
for the vegetable growth which we would
least expect to find here. The one she Sc.
lected was the watermelon.
Every farmers hoy knows that ordinari-
ly the watermelon requires a great deal of
moisture before it will grow well 1t also
generally requires shade. In the east the
watermelon patch is frequently in some
cool or moist corner of the cornfeld, where
owed by the stalks of corn. This is not
merely for the benefit of such ncighboring
boys as may desire to eat watcrmelons
without disturbing the general public, but
It is also for the benefit of the melons them
selves.
Boys accustomed to look for melons In
such places as that would be surprised to
find them in this country lying out on the
open prairie, where the hot sun glares
down on them all day long, with never "a
cloud TO interpose and never tree or a
bush for shade as far as the eye can reach.
Sometimes not drop of rain falls from
the time the seed is planted in the spring
until the melon is eaten in the carly sum
mer. Yet they thrive. And such melons
as there are too! Long, slender ones and
big round ones; light green ones, dark
green ones and striped ones-and all pom
derous, big fellows To come some morn
ing about sunrise, while it is yet cool, and
see vast stretch of such fruit Nesting
down amid the short, curly mesquite grass
on some 40 or so acres of land Is enough
to make white mans mouth water like
that of horse in field of new clover and
to make n black man drop dead in his
tracks from arrangement of the heart
functions. This is nothing though, COM
pared to coming to such "a patch about
noon, when the vertical rays of the sun
are pouring down at their tCrCcst and
when your throat is parched with thirst
that is flercer still AT such "a time rs this
you slip your left arm through tho bride
rein of your tired pony, lift some long,
striped melon with both hands, drop it
and allow il to break in some half dozen
pieces. Then you gulp down great mouth
fuls Of the juicy, watery. red pulp and for
get that there is not a river or creek or
spring or drop Of surface water of any kind
for 80 miles around Then you pause for
a moment and think of the wonderful
power that can enable the small vine to
find so much water in 50 dry "A land. Then
you break one or two especially big juicy
melons for the benefit Of your pony, who
has already been smiling at them little
impatiently. If you neglect either this
thought or this deed, you are n mcaner
brute than this same pony--which is say
ing great deal.
The method Of cultivating watcrmelons
on the staked plains is comparatively SIM
Pile In consists in making "A small hole
In the ground and dropping seed into it.
After this the training Of the melon is left
to the melon itself. In some places you
find what are known rs wild watermclons,
but it is commonly believed that these
come up where tame melons have been
thrown away, and their seeds have found
a chance Judgment in the soil of the prai
RE
1t is easy TO find partial explanation
as to how the melons subSist in such dry
region. The explanation involves an I'm.
Outstanding of the water supply on tho
plains, which in itself is "a remarkable
matter. Dry as this country is, one can
find water anywhere in it by digging about
80 feet for 1t. BY boring hole to that
depth and inserting two inch pipe one
obtains water supply which it is impos
sible to exhaust. 1t seems that u vast
sheet of water underics this whole region
This sheet Of water is evidently considera.
bly, higher than the level Of the country
Just south and east OF the staked plains
The plains proper begin with Polo Duva
Canyon, where rocky bluffs suddenly rise
precipitously to the height of from 100 TO
600 feet. The level of the vast sheet OF
subterranean water referred to is evidently
from 20 TO $50 feet higher than this ada.
cent country, and why the water does not
run out is n mystery Some peculiar for
nation Of rocks like the rim of "a washba
sin must account Tor II. IhIS water Is
clear and cool, and it is as good for all
purposes as any In the world. Many peo-
pie who have studied the matter believe
that by using windInills TO draw this wa
ter to the surface for purposes of irrigation
the whole problem Of agriculture in this
arid country can eventually be solved.
There are several reasons why the Pan
handle" of Texas has not attracted any
more attention than it has in the water
melon markets of the world To begin
with, the only railroad passing through
the country is the Fort Worth and Denver.
Many carloads of melons are shipped over
this line every season TO Denver, but they
are all consumed in the Rocky mountain
region, and hence attract little or no at
tention In the east Then again, the aver
age Panhandler openly disregards the
Scriptural injunction about not despising
the day OF small things. Unless he can
market 10 or IL carloads he thinks it Is
too small matter TO be fooling with. He
is generally a stockraiser and considers
ANYTHING of al agricultural nature as a
trihc below his dignity anyway, especially
4.