The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-09-09
CONCERNING MELONS.
Their Deceptive Qualities Cause Sad
ness to Purchasers.
Hartford Courant.


1t sometimes seems that this era of me-
chanical devices. of inspired machinery,
has little left to accomplish, that auto
matte service has rescued us from every
possibility of error save that incident to
machinery itself and that chemical tests
are leaving Nature none of her secrets
But there are some things still left a pray
to carking doubt; some remainderS of the
incurable fallibility of man; some secrets
that elude analysis We speak particularly
OF melons.
What we want is a perfectly incorrupti-
BILE test to decide whether a citron melon
is a good one not To be sure, it is
ancient wisdom that the proof of the pud-
ding is in the eating, but il is time got
beyond that. We can even foreStall the
surprises of the weather now, and so i'm
portant a matter as the disposition of a
melon ought no longer to be left to this
archaic and irrevOcable test. Moreover
the fact that to those who are not fortu-
nate enough to grow their own melons
and they are many-the eating of the mel
on is subsequent to the paying for II, in
PRODUCES at once that economic factor, so
powerful in all invention. To buy
melon, fair seeming and suggestive of an
unworldly sweetness, TO render 1t hope
lessly unfit for further commercial ex-
change by cutting it and taking out the
seeds and then to find that it tastes of
cotton batting or homemade squash or
Indian meal porridge with the salt for
gotten-these are experiences that cost
the patience and the pocket dear!
y watermelon can be plugged by the
wise and prudent, but one might as well
plug oranges as the little melons that are
so plenty and so pathetically inadequate
to the situation.
One curious fact is that they are not
bettered by being called cantaloupes. 1t
would seem at first glance that that ought
to do something for them; that a melon
of any standing whatever would not al
low itself To be called cantaloupe without
rising to the occasion. But we have seen
many cantaloupe that might have been
water-logged turnip. We might as we'll
call them Japanese or CitrOn muskmelOns
or brea kfast melons-it makes no real diff
ference.
Another curious thing is that other peo-
pie are so apt to have good ones-so much
better than YOU have been able to find
When one has "A melon for dinner or
luncheon at "A friends house. six to one
it is sweet and aromatic. This is mex
pHcable.
And a good melon is such good thing
So gratefully cool. so honey sweet, so full
of the flavor OF sun and ripeness. Surely
it cannot be beyond the ingenuity of man
to find some convincing method of telling
this kind from the cotton batting variety.
those known TO the philateist. which
would betray the secret ii only one could
discern them IL is not To be believed that
one of those fruits of ideal character will
be forever content to be confused with
the fatuOus qualities of its imitatOrs Ii
only waits for the ingenious benefactor TO
discover a test-one superior to any fan
cied accuracy Of guessing by weight or
COlOr-which shall elevate our present pitt
ful shifts and errors into the security of
science