The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1907-01-22
Marketing CantaIoupes.

Marketing Cantaloupes.
Something here about the gathering
packing and shipping of cantaIoupes will
be in order for the profits of the cron
depend entirely on giving strict attention
to all these details. a good plan when
planting the crop. is to leave every sew
enth row implanted, or this row may be
planted to some very early crop such as
radishes, peas or early bunch beans Rv
this plan, horse hitched to a sled. made
for this purpose. having its sides and
bottom padded so as to prevent bruisinp
the fruit may he driven through when
three rows on each side may be gath
cred and placed in the sled. This when
loaded can he drawn to the packing shed,
which should lac arranged nearby.
In picking the fruit great care should
be taken not to tread on the vines. as
this will cause the later fruits to become
ill-shaped and inferior in quality. When
the heavy netting on the fruit becomes
white and Just before turning yellow. &c
the time to pull the cantaloupes. Take
hold of the melons that have attained
this stage of color. give them a slight
pull and If the stems pull out easiIv thew
are ready for shipment but If the stems
seem inclined to hold on such melons
should be left another day Always pull
the fruits from the vines instead of cut
ting them. Catalogues ripen very quickly
so the field may need to be gone over
twice day during the main ripening
period
Cantaloupes are now being grown for
shipment by truck growers associations
or where number of good farmers have
pooled their interests, each growing a.
few acres, so that they may be able
to ship In carload lots. Such growers
have a'great advantage over the small
or single-handed grower, as they can load
a car quickly and in a few hours after
the melons are gathered they are on their
way to the great markets. The demand
for good catalogues has grown so rap
idly that they have become one OF our
staple crops and are no longer considered
as luxury for the rich only, for all
classes of people now use them and hum
dreds OF cars OF cantaloupes are now
sold annually in all'our large cities.
Buyers at Homo Station.
Where cantaloupe growers associations
are organized for growing large crops.
it has become the custom for buyers
from the large cities to visit such seq
lions and buy the crops right at the home
station. This is by far the best plan. as
these buyers instruct the grower In gath
ering and packing the fruits These buy
ers also look after crates, cars, freight
rates and refrigerator service, relieving
the growers of the worry of attending to
these details. Growers, having large
acreage of fine crops, will no longer expe-
rience any difficulty In finding ready buy
ers who will visit their section and buy
their crops. However, it is always best
to have all these matters arranged far
ahead. Buyers should be secured, the
help necessary to handle the crop quick
ly should be arranged for ahead and
where the association prefers to look after
their own crates, cars. icing and freight
rates. these should all be provided for
before the maturity of the eanta1oupes.
! have known many cantsloupe growers
10 lose their entire crops because they
waited until the crop was ready to ship