The St. Mary banner., 1907-08-24
NEW YORK FRUIT SUPPLY.
STRAWBERRIES ON SALE FOR
EIGHT MONTHS IN THE YEAR.

EIGHT MONTHS IN THE YEAR.
In the Height of the Season Million
Quarts Are Sometimes Received IN
Cay-Cantaloupe From Colorado
-Waterme ons Shipped by the Car
loads.
Strawberries come to New York IN
January, February and March from
Florida. fYom South Carolina between
March Is and April 16; from North
Carolina from the middle Cf Apfli "
May ID: from the region Of the vlcln'
IL o. Norfolk from the first to the
middle of May; from Maryland ana
Delaware between May 10 and jane
/. from New Jersey, up to the Hud-
son River and then from the OsWego
district until September. The berries
in the Southern fields are picked by
darkies who receive from l cent to
2 cents a quart and are carried 10
the packing house by man VINO
Is paid Is cents day. In the pack
ing house white girls 'face up the
the berries and put them in the crate,
which is taken to the railroad station.
The TRANSFORMATION charge on berries
from North Carolina in carload lots
is e cents a crate; in less than car
load lots 80 cents a crate. There are
thirty-.wo quarts in a crate. FROM
Florida the charge is $1.3O per crate
in 200 crate lots.
During the season Of greatest pro-
duction it is not unusual Tor New
York to receive 10000 to $4,000 crates
OF strawberries in one day. 1hey
quickly perish and must be disposed
of at once at the market price.
Cantaloupes come from FLORIDA and
California in carload lots from April
25 to July 1G; from Georgia from June
Is to July 1G; from South and Nortn
Carolina from July to July 20; from
Texas from June l to August J; from
from Colorado from August 10 TO
frost: from Idaho. Utah and northern
California from July Is to October 10:
Cantaloupes decay if left on the
vine within three days after ripening.
They must be picked during the hrst
thirty-six hours to be in condition Ter
shipment. They are shipped in re-
frigerator cars and must be marheted
and eaten at once In Florida they
bring the consumer IS cents t. sl25
a crate of forty-five and the frelgnt
rate is GO cents to New York. The
price is about the same in Georgia
and the freight rate is 55 cents. me
freight rate from South Carolina Is
40 cents and from North Carolina &c
cents. In Colorado the grower gets
81 cents a crate and the freight rate
is "a cents: in California the price
is s1.64 and the freight rate S1.1O.
AS there are forty-five cantaloupes
to the crate it will be seen that the
freight rate runs from less than
cent for the Carolinian melon to
about two and a half cents for that
from California. The standard re-
tail price for the ordinary cantaloupe
is Is cents for one or two for 25 cents
the retail price not being affected b5
the freight rates. The first Rocky
ford melons were brought to New
York in 1897. The receipts of canta-
loupes from all places average about
thirty-five per day from June - 70
September Is.
The extensive Montreal melons get
their delicious flavor by hand pro-
cess of milk feeding, milk during the
growing period being injected INTO
a melon through an incision in the
stem.
Watermelons come from Florida
from the latter part of May to the
middle of June, from south Georgia
June 10 to July 10; from South Car
olina. July 4 to August 4; from North
Carolina, July 10 to August 10; from
Norfolk, Va, throughout September.
The first watermelons usually pay the
Floridian grower 5000 to $500 for
car averaging LOO melons; the
freight from Florida is $3.50 car.
These melons will bring $500 a car
in the New York market and retail
from so to IS cents apiece. After
the novelty has worn off, sometimes
in a week or two, the price drops
abruptly 800 or even $500 car. The
prices during the season range from
SEQ to 500 per car from south
Gecrgia, whence the freight is S1l0
per car, to from $40 to $50 from Nor
folk, whence the freight is $50 per
car.
In August and September the mel
ons from Norfolk and New Jersey
bring from $1OO to $3.50 per car and
retail at about a5 cents. Although
because Of their bulk and compara-
At, -, x,c,,,o +ho froioht rota IN