The sun., 1908-06-21
CANTALOUPE GROWING PAYS.
Farmers OF the Rocky Ford District Find
It O Prontabie Crop.

It Q Prontablo Crop.
Cant aloupe growing 10 one OF the most
independent branches Of farming said
the owner OF q small ranch In the oele-
brated Rocky Ford district Of Colorado.
1T is one OF the easiest. too. for quite a
considerable part Of the year.
Seed for the melon crop is planted from
the first to the fifteenth Of May. and after that
with the exception Of couple Of weddings
and two applications OF water your work
is done until tho time for picking begins.
about the latter part Of July or the first OF
August. q
when the melons begin to be ready for
shipment the planter has only to inspect
his patches from day to day and select
those which are In condition The canta-
loupes are quick ripeners. and one might
go through patch one day and not find
single melon sufficiently advanced to be
picked and yet the very next morning the
same patch might show enough ripe melons
to fill thirty to forty crates.
"The principal harvesting time for Rocky
Fords 10 from the latter part OF August
until the first of October. all depending
upon the frost. Exposure to frost puts an
abrupt end to the existence Of cantaloupes.
The melons are picked In the morning.
Grated and then removed to the refrigerator
cars or place Of shipment In the cool Of the
evening. When picked for the Eastern
market the melons are removed from the
vines before they are fully ripe.
while the Rocky Ford melons derive
their name from the town OF that name. yet
as a matter of fact the melons are grown
in many other sections Of Otero county,
irrigated by the waters OF the upper Ar
kansas River. The principal point of
shipment, however, is at Rocky Ford. and
at the height Of the season--the latter part
Of August-from forty to fifty carloads
daily are sent away.
But everybody who owns q patch Of
land in that vicinity devotes certain part
Of 1t to the raising Of the cantaloupe, and
through the raising of this one kind OF fruit
the land along the Arkansas Valley, which
fifteen years ago was worth but from IS
to $40 an acre, has now advanced In value
to $500 In certain cases.
sThe soil is wonderfully productive, and
Of cantaloupes an acre will be from 100
to 126 standard crates, each OF which will
contain about forty-hve melons. For these
the producer will receive from 80 cents to 81
a crate, and always reckons upon his acre
age yielding an average OF $75.
Some years q oantaloupe grower will
raise what he terms seed crop, although
the wise grower wilr always reserve HE
finest melons for seed. The growers. while
all ofthem must bury seed for the first year,
ever afterward make it point to save
enough from each years crop b answer
the needs Of the next year. ~
"A seed crop is by no means an unprofit-
able one. In one crate OF melons there is
at least one pound OF seed, and 30 an aver
age yield would represent from forty-five
to ffty pounds of seed to the acre, which
is worth at times as much as 81 so O pound.
One grower in 1909 planted five acres in
cantaloupes for q seed crop and sold the
product of his patch as it stood to a seed
house at Rocky Ford for $500. There are
three seed houses at Rocky Ford whose sole
business consists OF handling cantnloupe
seed.
Recently some OF the canta loupe growers
started to raise new variety Of cantaloupe,
which is q cross between q muskmeon and
loupe, or salmon melon: the inside Of which
is OF a red yellowish color. One grower
last year near Rocky Ford planted patch
OF about several acres in the new melon
for q seed crop. This was done on the order
OF a Californian. Eight hundred pounds
of the seed OF the new melon were pro-
duced, for each pound OF which the Rocky
Ford grower received 10 cents. The Calf
fornian in turn received So pound for
the seed. the greater portion Of which he
disposed Of in California.
"One Of the reasons why the Rocky Ford
cantaloupe grower can afford to be inde-
PEELED to rely Upon the crop of melons for
the income he derives from his ranch.
Nearly every one Of the growers also raises
sugar beets, and they know exactly how
them