Rocky Ford enterprise., 1913-08-22

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Beginning about the last week of
May and continuing until the end of
July, crop movement of more than
local importance takes place, although
it is unlikely that the financial col
umns of the great dailies have ever
mentioned it. This is the movement
of the cantaloupe crop of the Imperial
Valley OF California.
Last years crop of cantaloupes pro-
duced in the Imperial Valley amount
ed to 1850 cars, nearly all of which
were shipped prior to July rs. The
crop was valued at about S2,25o,ooo.
Not less than 100000 pounds of ice
was required for the refrigeration OF
the melons in transit. This years
acreage is considerably larger than
last years, and shipmnts East began
before the last of May. with every in
dication that the crop will be the larg-
est ever harvested.
1T is only FIVE or six years since fhhe
Imperial Valley began to attract at
tention as producer of cantaloupes,
but it is now the most important pro-
ducing district in the country. Its
special advantage lies in its excessive
ly hot, dry climate, enabling growers
to put cantaloupes on the market be-
fore the seeds are sprouted in most
sections OF the country. The first
melons of the season. come from this
torrid valley, and that fact enables
growers located in ii to disregard the
handicap OF distance from the large
markets. Most of the crop is market
ed east of the Mississippi River, Chi
cago. Philadelphia, and New York,
taking consignments OF trainloads,
and Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cleveland,
Toledo, Cincinnati, and scores OF 9TH
er cities calling for many carloads
each season.
The biggest days cantaloupe pick
ing that ever took place in the I'M
perial Valley Cor anywhere else, for
that matter) was on June II, 1911.
when 1873 car loads were gathered and
packed for shipment. These were
hauled from Brawley, the shipping
center. to Imperial Junction, on the
railroad, in one train, which meas
ured 6,I75 feet in length. 1t was the
longest train load OF cantaloupes ever
hauled over any railroad. There
were 324 crates in each car, and IS
melons in each crate, or total OF
I.o3o,I4o melons. Each melon had 10
be handled at least three times-for
picking, wrapping, and crating-so
that the amount of labor involved in
getting off that one train load of mel
ons was far from inconsiderable.
Last year, for the first time, Ari-
zona and Nevada made some showing
as producers OF carly cautaloupes for
the Eastern markets. The Moapa dis
trict OF Nevada shipped I25 carloads,
and from the Salt River Valley and
other sections of southern Arizona
total of more than 700 carloads were
forwarded. The Pecos, Mimbres, and
Mesilla Valleys of New Mexico also
shipped number OF carloads as an
experiment, and this year expect to
play a role of some Importance in the
melon trade.
Possibly the most famous canta-
loupe growing section of the United
States is the Rocky Ford district,
comprising the counties OF Pueblo,
Otero, Bent, Prowers, and Crowley,
in the Arkansas Valley of Colorado.
Last year these FIVE counties shipped
I,275 carloads of Rocky Ford" can
taloupes, mostly to Eastern markets.
Several other localities in Colorado,
on the western slope of the Rocky
Mountains. recently made the discov-
cry that they can produce cantaloupes
equal in flavor and quality to those OF
the Arkansas Valley, and last year
800 carloads were shipped from Delta
and Mesa counties. Consequently.
the commercial cantaloupe crop OF
Colorado in 1911 amounted to 1875
carloads, valued at $4,000.
Popularly, the words cantaloupe and
muskmelon are interchangeable.
Properly. the term muskmelon is the
more comprehensive of the two, in
cluding the cantaloupes and other va
rieties. The two common types OF
muskmelon are the furrowed and
hard-rinded kinds and the netted
softer-rinded varieties. Horticultural
writers restrict the word cantaloupe
to the former and call the later nut