Arizona republican., 1911-06-21
LARGEST CANTAlOUPE
TRAIN IN THE WORLD
The Fruit and Melon Markets-Where
Western Products Go.

The following from the Los Angeles
| Times will be of interest to Iruit and
| cantaloupe growers generally as il
| treats of the worlds markets i'm those
| lines, as seen through Los Angeles
| eyes. Also, ii tells Of a record break
| ing freight train:
! The longest cantaloupe train in the
world was made up at Brawley sev-
| eral DAYS ago according 10 Paul Won
! Neindorff. San Francisco broker, who
! is at The Alexandria and who has
been one Of the heavy packers of the
| melon in Imperial valley this season.
| This monster train contained al cars.
was pulled by two locomotives. and
| was nearly a mile and half long.
| Al Imperial junction this great train
| was broken into several sections and
| dispatched in that manner to various
| eastern points. With Nendorff was
| Peter p. Hovley. one Of the extern
| sive growers of melons. who for one
weeks shipments received more than
! $1,000 in single check Discussion
of the cantaloupe situation revealed
| the fact that Los Angeles has been
| made the dumping ground for all the
! poor stock in the valley, while the
better melons were shipped east.
There We're only two or three per
feet grades of fruit shipped into this
city in the past two weeks declared
Won Neindorff This has caused the
growers greater loss than they can
estimate in a superficial way. In the
first place. the inferior melons have
created a prejudice against them and
have lowered the standard Of the
packers. They have caused prices To
go as low as 80 cents a standard
crate on the Los Angeles market For
extra fancy melons the price has been
down L. 81. where il should at no
time in the season have gone To less
than 81 and would have remained
there had only fancy melons been
shipped here. Stepping into one Of
the large retail groceries of the down
town section. We opened five crates
OF supposedly fancy melons which
had brought nearly the top price
Most Of the melons in these crates
We're soft and We're not fit for fancy
trade. They killed the demand from
the grocer on that pack Local prices
create prices in the east ana this has
caused the declines i'm eastern mar
kets. Some OF the growers will real
i've little more than the shipping
charges because they have acted In a
foolhardy manner and have killed the
goose that was bringing home the
golden eggs. II the growers and pack
ers would sacrifice the inferior mel
ons. throw them To- the dump and
keep up prices in that way on the
good stock. their revenue would be-
doubled At the conclusion Of the
melon season. Won Neindorff. accom-
panied by his wife. viii leave for a
five months tour of Europe
Charles \. Smith. London. regis
tered at the Angelus during the week
and immediately began inquiries about
the fruits and other products Of thu
soil Of southern California. Smith -
in the commission business in the
world metropolis and has come 10 es-
Jablish local shipping connections. as
well as to ascertain the ins and outs
OF the fruit business The English
people consume annually approximate
ly $4,000. 900 worth Of oranges alone
and about s2.5O0.0o0 Of lemons" he
said. "Of apples they consume about
$4,000, 900 worth. and all Of these
fruits are imported from other coun-
tries. IL is only in the past ten
years that California oranges. lemons
and grapefruit have become known
in England In order To find a ready
market at the higher prices which
are demanded over Mediterranean cit
rus fruits the California products
10 A.. h.
time California oranges sell at about
10 cents apiece. American value while
Mediterranean fruit is worth about
| half that figure In order, therefore.
To compete, il is essential for the
local product To be- of extra fine quail
ity. There is no doubt but what the
California fruit is superior. Grape
fruit is not a very we'll known fruit
in ordinary homes of England ana is
looked upon as a luxury for only the
rich. Very few California lemons
are used. most of the English trade
being in Spanish. Italian and Messina
lemons. There is big field for Cal
foTnia citrus and what is most need
ed is an advertising campaign to
broadly establish the merits of the
fruit. At present about fifty cars
of oranges a year are sold in London
from California. Ten cars would com
prise all the shipments of grapefruit
received. Very many American APP
pies are eaten in London. Most of
them come from Canada and about
hundred cars from California Pears
are also imported from this state and
the Bartlett of California is locked
upon as the acme Of fruit deicacies
during the winter months" Smith
will investigate Systematically the 10
cal packing plants and orchards. after
which he viii proceed To- the Wat
sOnville district ( q look into apple
shipping