Imperial Valley press., 1909-06-19
CANTALOUPE CROP
 MOVING TO MARKET Reported High Prices Are DeluSionS To Melon
 Growers
Actual Net Returns on Early Express Shipments RidicuIousIy small-He- Der Growers Shipping Independents ly and Saving Commission and Ad- vertisino Expenses.

Six, eight, ten, twelve dollars a crate paid for Imperial Valley canta- loupes in Chicago and New York! Sounds great, doesn't it? Big adver- tisement for Imperial Valley! Fine for the farmer!. Everybody pitch in, grow cantaloupes and acquire wealth beyond the dreams of avarice
 But take a look at the returns as reported by the commission man to the grower. The first crates of fancy melons shipped by express from El Centro brought to the grower from eighty cents to SIPS crate. That was in the first week in June, and the melons were first class, not green stuff hustled to market to get ahead of someone else. The commission man assured the grower that he would get top price, and the grower selected and packed carefully a few perfect melons, enough to ill one crate on June and two or three crates a day for several days.
 And that is what the farmers of In- perial Valley may expect so long as they turn their product over to plausible distributors" to do with as they please. There is no way to trace shipments and check up the sales, for the ostensible competitors in the bus mess have craftily arranged pooling scheme, and a growers product may be so divided between Eastern and Western markets that he cannot tell what has become of any part or H..
 As matter of fact the big prices reported from Chicago are not the prices of carload lots. A few crates may be sold at the top price, and the figures are sent out to stir up interest The first express shipments are used for advertising purposes, and the expenses of shipping and selling absorb the returns, leaving the grow CT but a few cents. Tn other words, the grower of early cantaloupes is compelled to pay for the commission mans advertising in the first of the season.
 Down at Heber few growers are doing their own shipping and mar keting under the style of the Heber Produce Company, and they are re- ceiving net returs of $2.50 to $4 a crate. When they sent few crates by express to advertise their pro- duct they knew the expense would eat up the profits, but that was their own business and they did it with their eyes open.
 In time. some other cantaloupe growers in Imperial Valley may get their eyes open and find way to manage their own business and get all there is in 1t instead of giving up all the profits to plausible stran- gers.
 Forty carloads of melons have been shipped from Imperial Valley to this date, not counting the large express shipments of crate lots. El CentrO has sent out five carloads from the El Centro Cantaloupe Growers As sociation, shipped through the H. l Woods Company. This firm has ship l ped three cars from Heber and about half of the carload lots which have gone out of Brawely.
 Brawley is leading all other valley points in the present shipments. hay ing sent out about twenty cars.
 The finest melons coming into E Centro are from the Edgewild ranch generally known as the Reed place southwest of this town two and I half miles. Those melon plants were started under glass and set out early and the experiment seems to have been highly successful. From thi: field eighty-five per cent of the mel ons are graded as standards and if teen per cent as ponies.
 Plenty of labor is available at the packing sheds, but there Is a shortage of pickers and field men. This veal many of the melon growers are us ing Japanese pickers.
 For experienced packers rate o $45O per day and board Is being paid and for Japanese pickers car fare from Los Angeles and $2,25 per dal is the prevailing rate.