Evening star., 1911-08-13
Scarcity of WatermeIons
at WharveS Unusual

TT is certainly a case Of feast and famine
down at the 18th street wharves.
where the watermelons come in. Last
week twenty schooners at a time lay at
the landings there. loaded to the water
mark with melons, large and juicy and
ripe to the rind" The number ran close
toward $1,000 thus disposed of and even
choice specimens could be bought for
from 81 to $50 hundred. The colored
population was there in force and the
| casual Dustin open of vividly red
Tom Watson caused sorrow to nobody
and joy to many.
| But this week the melons are being
handled gingerly and woe unto the luck
| less wharf helper who spills one For
owing to some unaccountable condition.
the watermelon seems to have waxed
| and waned in the course of fortnight.
4 The oldest ha.bitues of the waterside are
| puzzled by the sudden slump In COM
| modify which has become luxuriouS
necessity during the hot days.
According to a man who has spent most
| Of his life down where the melons come
| in and who can tell offhand the exact
dates on which they began coming in for
| half a dozen summers past, the pioneers
of the Maryland and virginia-eastern
shore and tidewater melons. to use
schooner phraseology-crops arrived fully
ten days sooner this season than he ever
recalls their having done before.
Last summer the first "genu-wine"
melons, as the dealers allude to melons
| from nearby as compared to those which
| come from Florida and the Caroilnas.
made their appearance at the wharf
about August 8. This year on July q
of Sf,Ch melons came
| in and were disposed OF at almost FANCY
| prices.
The sage of the wharves explains this
premature arrival as being due to the long
hot period preceding that in the late
spring Due to this heat the melons were
duped into believing the season much
later than 1t really was. They rlpeneo
by days instead of weeks: as a result
the market was glutted last week and
there is a woeful slump this week The
same grade Of fruit has climbed from
81 to 81 hundred, and the
varieties which brought SO last week
now sell rapidly for $40 more.
Only three schooners were lying along
side the wharf yesterday. or these. one
from the eastern shore brought in the
largest cargo of 200 melons. These
were the long. plain. green sort when
yield with delicious scrunching SOUND
when tested and give to view vista
Of enticing pinkish redness when cut
Only 5000 melons were reported for the
week, and even these had lack or that
terized the preceding ones. born in the
sun and kissed by the rain. They had
to struggle along as best they might
amid drought and sizzling hotness and
they were just lucky 10 become Iuh-
grown melons at ALL
Raralv tbesa days does one note among
an unloading shipment the round. apple
shaped melons. bright green i'm hue and
zebra striped in darker shades or the
same color These. known to all old
timers, are the result OF crossing the
watermelon with the potato pumpkin,
and used 10 be very plentiful. They were
not any more difficult to carry than
creased pig but much more trouble to
raise Within the past four years. to
again quote the savant of the docks, such
melons have been too closely grated. or.
rather have acquired rather too many
of the qualities of the pumpkin without
retaining the best features or the melon
proper. In consequence, II has been
largely eliminated from the crops OF
experienced growers.
In their place one sees that already
mentioned slender, plain sort. The giant
of these arrived about two weeks ago
and weighed in at ninety pounds. Even
the old-timer had to admit, though
grlrigingly, that it was some melon
For he AYERS that in the old days that
wharf was a receptacle for such melons
as are seen now only in dreams. Ac-
cor1ing to him the seasons are rapidly
changing. and with their altering the
melon crop is doomed
The captain of schooner just in from
the Rappahannock predicted that rain
this week will cause another plentiful
influx by Tuesday or Wednesday. but
that the high mark for cargoes this sum-
mer has been reached
He keeps a record of shipments from
year to year. and estimated that the num-
Der received for Washington this summer
is Just about 68 2-3 per cent less than i'm
1910.
All the tidewater counties Of Virginia
and the garden spot of the earth. ma
tives Of the eastern shore love to call
their realm. contribute to the melons
which are hawked about the local streets
by "A-a-rabs," fed to newsboys from the
curb served, rindless and succulent, on
a hotel table, or bought to form the cen
terpiece OF family dining.
Il
At the wharf. Of course, the prices of
these melons depend solely upon the
number received. When they are plenti-
full tie price is low. and when only
few arrive up goes their cost. Labor
there is always plentiful. and, as COM