Milford chronicle., 1922-08-11
HOW TO PICK AND
PACK CANTALOUPES
CHIEF DERICKSON OF DELAWARE MAR
KET DIVISION GIVES SOME HELP
full SUGGESTIONS.

growers of cantaloupes in getting
their product to the markets in prop
er condition, w. T. Derickson, Chief
of the Division of Markets at Dover
publishes the following article which
is taken mainly from Farmers Bulle-
tin No. HAS, issued by the United
States Department of Agriculture.
When TO Pick
Inasmuch as the State of Delaware
is so admirably located in close proX-
unity to the eastern markets, the
proper time of picking cantaloupes, in
order to insure the best eating quality
when they reach the consumer, is just
after they will slip cleanly from the
stem, that is, at the full slip stage OF
maturity. There is at present a great
tendency to pick too green, and green
melons have a depressing effect on
both demand and prices, and Della
ware melons if properly handled and
promptly loaded will carry in salts
factory condition even to distant mar
kets, when picked full slip.
Great Care Should Be Used in
Handling
The carrying and keeping qualities
of cantaloupes are largely dependent
upon the care exercised to prevent
mechanical injuries in harvesting and
preparation for shipment. From the
standpoint of minimizing or other me-
chanical injury many faults in the
present handling practices may be
corrected readily by reasonable atten-
tion to equipment and labor. 1t is be-
lieved that baskets are more practlc-
able for use in the field than bags, as
they are more conveniently handled,
and if ordinary care is used by the
pickers, there is less chance of bruis-
ing. Great care should be used in
loading and unloading these baskets
from the wagon, so as to prevent
dropping or other jarring, and baskets
when stacked should be so arranged
as to not bruise the cantaloupes on
the top layers. CantalOupes from field
baskets should be graded or emptied
into packing bins without unnecessary
throwing, dropping or rolling, and the
lining of packing bins should be made
of soft material, or if made of boards
should be well padded to prevent
bruising. During the packing canta-
lopes should be placed carefully in the
CIdLbS,
to place as is frequently done. Injury
caused by squeezing can be prevented
if packers are careful not to force in
diversified melons when finishing
crates. Cantaloupes should be packed
so that the tops of the crates bulge
slightly when cover Stats are nailed
on. 1 the tops bulge too much, the
cantaloupes become bruised and spoil
age results.
Wagons used for hauling packed
crates to car loading platforms should
be equipped with springs to reduce
the injury from jarring. 1t is equally
as important that the men in charge
of loading cars use due care, in load
ing, as it is that the grower use due
care in harvesting and transporting
his cantaloupes to the buying centers.
If the car loader is negligent and
careless, much of the growers work is
undone. Crates should be stacked
only on their sides, as the side bulge
is usually much less than the top, and
there is thus less chance of injuring
the melons, neither should they be
thrown or dropped into position, to do
so causes serious injury and deteri-
grafton. This applies not only to the |
handling of crates at the loading |
point, but also during the unloading |
from cars, and during distribution to |
wholesale, jobbing and retail stores. (
Do Not Wrap CantalOUpes
Wrapped cantaloupes do not cool off
so well in transit, and do not reach
the consumer in as good condition as
do unwrapped cantaloupes. Free cir
culation of air around each crate and
around each melon is essential to
quick effective refrigeration in tran
sit, and wrapped cantalOupes cool off
more slowly than those not wrapped
because the paper retards the free
of cold air, and to some
extent acts as an insulatOr, prevent
ing the free transmission of heat from
the melons. A large part of the loss
from wrapping also occurs because of
decay and mold, which develops after
the cantalOupes have been unloaded
from refrigerator cars. When, on
summer days, crates of cold canta-
loupes are removed from refrigerator
cars, moisture from the atmosphere
on the surface of the mel
Ons, this moisture soon evapOrates
from the nnwrapped melons, but from
the wrapped melons, the evaporation
is hindered by the paper, which tends
to retain the moisture, thus causing
mold and decay.
Prompt Loading Into Refrigerator
Cars Reduces Bosses
The reduction Of serious market
losses from oversoft, overripe and de-
cayed cantaloupes, is also dependent
to a large extent upon the prOmptness
with which they are placed under re-
After picking they should
be hauled without delay from the field
to the packing shed, where they
should be kept in the shade until
packed, and they should be packed i'm
mediately, and while the cantaloupes
are being hauled from the packing
shed to the cars, it is well to cover
them with canvass or other light col
ored cloth to protect them from the
sun. If it is necessary to load flats and
standard crates together, the hats
should be placed on top layers or IN
the stacks nearest the bracing. Care
should also be taken to avoid careless
loading or shifting of packages. The
of cold air from the ice
is necessarily slow, even un-
der the best conditions, and open
spaces between the rows of crates
should be provided.
DR.. J. F. Adams of the University OF
Delaware advises us that the ripening |
or California cantaloupes on the road |
five days, amounts to but six hours
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