The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-09-09
Giant Crop u Giant Fruit
Fascinating Romances of MelOn-growng in Broad Belt
OF Country Extending From Colorado to the At
lantc Ocean Immense Profits to the
Gr0Wer-NeW Varieties.

! have all been made by cooperative
association which has taken particular
pains not to overstock any single mar
ket. Indeed, so popular has the melon
become that its seeds have been plant
ed in many localities throughout the
south, and even in Texas. and now
melons bearing the name Rocky Ford
come from many different places. al
though the only genuine Rocky Ford is
a product of Colorado.
Ingthis connection there is one of the
little romanceS of agriculture In 1897
a dealer in New York having a. number
of Rocky Ford melons left on his hands,
sent the seed to a friend in Florida,
who had just lost his orange crop by
freezing. This planter had been ac-
customed to picking his fifteen boxes
of oranges every year from every tree
in his orchards, and if he needed money
ne had no trouble in borrowing in adj
vance on his crop expectations When
his trees were frozen he was absolutely
without the means of livelihood. As
cordingly, when he received the melon
seed, he seized upon them as a last
chance, and instead of planting an ex-
perimental plot as his New York friend
has suggested, he plowed up thirty
acres and put it all into melons. When
he came to. harvest his crop he found
that he had melons literally by the
hundreds of thousands, and he cleared
S12, 600 from the thirty acres.
Origin of the Rocky Ford.
In this connection rather amusing
story is told about the origin of the
Rocky Ford melon. The Rocky Forders
insist that one of their number devel-
oped it from a wild melon indigenous
to Colorado, but the department of ag-
riculture. in making careful lnVeSt1-
cation, has discovered that the Rocky
Ford melon is nothing in the world but
the old-fashioned and much-despiSed
Melted Gem melon of the east. which
was grown in the kitchen gardens of
our grandmothers. 1t grows to great
perfection, it is true, in Colorado, but
the Melted Gem it is and nothing more.
Many eastern people wait until the
Jersey melon comes into the market.
Being grown near home it is picked
ripe and is supposed to be much sweeter
than any other variety. The Jersey
melon is usually nothing more nor less
than the Melted Gem. or some nearly
related variety. Throughout the Mis-
sissippi valley and to some extent in
the east, the Usage melon reigns SUI
preme. 1t is a large green melon, not
so handsome as the Rocky Ford, but
very rich and luscious. This melon also
has a curious history. Morrill,, one of
the most famous fruit growers in the
state of Michigan. as well as in the
United States, had become discouraged
with his calling at the time the vel
lows" carried off so many peach orch
ards. Accordingly he made a trip into
the far southwest to prospect for gold.
While there he found a wild melon of
unusual flavor and sweetness, although
it was not large He did not find any
gold, but he came home with his melon,
planted the seeds and in a few years he
was supplying nearly the entire Chi !
cago market with the product Of this
New Mexican seed.
) The New Russian Melon.
Mr.. Taylor told ne of a new discov-
cry just made by the agricultural de-
partment-a melon that will keep well !
into the winter like a squash. Some !
time ago Professor Hanson was sent to
Russia to gather the seeds of fruits and !
valuable agricultural plants unknown |
to this. country. Among others he
found at Khiva, Turkistan, the seed of !
a melon which was picked green and |
kept to ripen in root house or cellar.
The fruit often reached the great size |
of thirty pounds. and it bore some re- |
semblance when ripe both to the canta
loupe and to the watermelon; it seemed |
indeed to be in some way hibrid be-
tween the two. These seeds planted in |
this country have grown with great |
success and the agricultural depart |
ment is confident that it has made |
genuine discovery which will later
yield substantial money returns to the |
fruit growers of the entire country. In
the course of two or three years we
may expect to see delicious ripe melons
On sale during the Christmas holidays
and even later in the winter.
Watermelons, unlike the cantaloupes,
have not yet begun to be designated
by variety names, except perhaps by
the more advanced dealers. There is
the round watermelon and the long
green watermelon, and that is about as
far as it goes. But it is only question
Of time when the purchaser himself !
will be able to distinguish the Triumph
melon from Kolb's Gem and Dixey
from Mountain Sweet. One of the
greatest educators of the public in this
respect have been the fruit shows held
If late years in many important cities.
People are beginning to know that the
best looking melon is not always the
sweetest and best, and planters are
beginning to learn that it pays to adj
vertise and push varieties which are
particularly excellent. For this reason
here has been growing during the past
few years tendency on the part of adj
,anced growers to ship in peculiar
kinds of crates, and boxes with special
abels, so that. their fruit can be dis
inguished anywhere in the market.
Know one grower whose fruit comes
argely to the Chicago market who has
his sign on every one of his baskets:
.......... ..........- ..--.... .-.-..-.--.-.
,"BY THEIR FRUITS SHALL YE
KNOW THEM" :!
................- ....... .....-.......T
Another famous grower who has ex-