Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-08-26
Giant Crops This Summer of the
Big Fruit.
A HUNDRED POUND PRIZE MELON
If Rushed to Market Crop Pays
Better Than Wheat.
OF CANTALOUPES
Written for The Evening Star.

the northern markets than ever before in
the history Of the commission men. In
the last week Of July car loads of melons
were to be had for he asking in Jersey
City. Other car loads at Washington stood
open to the longing Of the passing darky
boy. The melon belt which reaches from
Otero county in Colorado in a broad band
sagging somewhat southwark and finally
touching the southern Atlantic coast. has
borne fruitfully throughout its entire
length.
This year the acreage, for two reasons
has been vastly Increased. During the win
ter of 1898 and 1899 from GO to 20 Sper cent
Of the peach trees of Georgia, Alabama
and, indeed, of the entire gulf region, with
the exception of Texas, were killed by the
frost. In Florida a considerable proper
ton Of the orange trees which had not suf-
fered in previous winters were lost, there
by throwing large number of fruit grow
ers out of their regular lines of planting.
AS result, thousands of acres formerly
devoted to peach and orange growing were
planted to cantaloupes and watermelons
In most sections of the south the season
was favorable for melon growth. and the
result was a great overstockfng Of the mar
ket. And yet the experienced grower, with
the wisdom which comes of many paintings.
has not been so seriously injured oy over
production as many of the newer melon
growers. He understood the science OF
securing an early crop and of rushing II
through well-estabhshed channels into the
markets Of the north.
AS result the first car loads OF canta-
loupes to reach New York brought from -
to $3.50 a crate. That means 81. 10O and
81 800 for a single car load of from 1900
to Is 900 melons. 1t is not at all unusual
to raise in parts of Georgia and Alabama
from two to three car loads to the acre
This would mean money yield OF from
81, 200 to $500 to the acre. provided the
Ill I1 ia 1ry IN he
season. When this is compared to the
yield to the acre of wheat or almost any
other known crop the profits would appear
enormous Certain it is that a number OF
the most advanced growers have been as
tonishlngly successful with their ventures
in the south. Watermelons have been only
step behind the cantaloupes in the size
and marketing success Of the crop. About
600 melons are considered a car load
During the last two three years these
melons have averaged a full thirty pounds
in weight. and some of them have gone be-
yond sixty pounds. while few prize mel
ons weighing 100 pounds and over have
crept into the shipments. The earliest wa
termelons bring all manner OF fancy prices.
By the list of August the price has usually
dropped from 500 to $3.50 per car load
That would mean a cost Of from 2 to 3.5
cents for thirty-pound melon-about as
cheap dessert. even after the middle
mans charges have been added as the
average American family could desire AS
still further until 1t frequently happens
mat the shipper is willing to give his pro-
duct to any one who will be kind enough
to pay the freight. The earlier melons
nearly all come by express. and spend from
two to three days on the road; from Col
orado the earliest product requires nearly
three days. or from four to five days by
freight. New York can comfortably con-
sumo from twenty to forty car loads every
day.
Growers Work Like a Trust
One curious development of the melon
crop. chiefly during the present season. has
been the growing sale of cantaloupes in the
market by name A few years ago a musk
melon was a muskmeon. The elementary
designations. good and bad" were the
only difference Of designation. I asked
w. A. Taylor, assistant pomologist of the
United States Department Of Agriculture
how the muskmelon happened to become
the cantaloupe
"In the north" he said, "the muskmelon
Is still the muskmelon cantaloupe Is
cantaloupe supply comes largely from be-
low the Mason-Dfxon line, the name has
gradually invaded northern markets until
at present the ordinary city man would
not think for a moment of asking for a
muskmelOn when he goes to a restaurant"
AS I said before. the average marketer
has begun to distinguish varieties of the
cantaloupe He knows the famous Rocky
Ford melon from the Usage and the Paul
Rose, and he thinks he can distinguish it
from the old-fashioned Melted Gem. The
Rocky Ford melon Is perhaps the most IA
nous Of any in the market. 1t Is grown in
Otero county, Colorado, near Rocky Ford
Of the Arkansas river. where the tempera-
ture is hot, the soil is light and the land
can be supplied by means Of irrigation with
an unlimited quantity of water at just the
time when the melon plants are most In
need Of 1t. Otero county Is indeed the hot
bed OF Colorado. The Rocky Ford melon
is Of medium size and roughly Melted with
green lines. 1t was first shipped in quanti-
ties from Colorado to Chicago about three
years ago. Here its fame grew with mush-
room rapidity. 1t was sweet and Of excel
lent flavor, and Chicago having passed ia
vorably upon 1t, the shipments reached far
Their to the eastward until the Rocky Ford
melon is now the most popular cantaloupe
in the markets of Philadelphia. New York
and Boston This success has largely been
due to the action Of the growers them
selves. They have worked together like a
trust. Their shipments have all been made
by cooperative association, which has
taken particular pains not to overstock any
single market. Indeed. so popular has the
melon become that its seeds have been
planted in many localities throughout the
south and even in Texas, and now melons
bearing the name Rocky Ford come from
many different places, although the only
genuine Rocky Ford is a product of Col
orado.
In this connection there is one of the little
q
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 accustomed to picking his
fifteen boxes Of oranges every year from
every tree In his orchards, and IL he needed
money he had no trouble in borrowing in
advance on his crop expectations When
his trees were frozen he was absolutely
without the means Of livelihood. Accord
ingly. when he received the melon seed, he
seized upon them as last chance, and in
stead OF planting an experimental plot. as
his New York friend had suggested, he
plowed up thirty acres and put 1t 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
$1,000 from the thirty acres.
Origin of the Rocky Ford.
In this connection a rather amusing
story Ii told about the origin Of the Rocky
Ford melon. The Rocky Forders insist
that one Of their number developed it from
a wild melon Indigenous to Colorado, but
the Department Of Agriculture in making
a careful investigation has discovered that
the Rocky Ford melon is nothing in the
world but the old-fashioned and much-de-
spised netted gem melon of the east, which
was grown in the kitchen gardens Of our
grandmOthers. It grows to great perfec-
ton. 1t Is true, in Colorado. but the netted
gem it Is and nothing more. Many eastern