CANTALOUPE CULTURE AND PEDIGREED CANTALOUPE SEED. 



PICKING 



When green or over-ripe melons are allowed to go onto the markets, 

 the trouble usually is in the picking; careless or mistaken ideas often 

 prevailing. There is a very narrow limit in the stage of ripeness that 

 a cantaloupe can be picked and have it in the right condition for distant 

 markets. On one hand, it can not be picked so green as a tomato or 

 lemon, and still ripen during shipment to fair quality, nor, on the other 

 hand, can it be allowed to show any distinct color of ripeness, like an 

 apple, without it becoming too soft on long shipments. 



It should be ripe enough so the flesh will be sweet when cut open, 

 yet too hard to be eaten for a day or two; it requires skill and ex- 

 perience to determine the proper stage. 



Jocularly, it has been said, "The cantaloupe has three stages in 

 three days, green, ripe and rotten." This expresses the fact that there 

 is a very short period for marketing the crop in good condition, yet if 

 picked at the proper stage, handled right, under refrigeration it can be 

 shipped to distant markets in quite normal condition. 



It is hard to describe to a novice, just how to detect the right stage 

 to pick a cantaloupe; there is first, a very slight change of color in 

 the interstices of the netting, hardly enough, however, to attract the 

 attention of the inexperienced; second, it is tried with a pressure of the 

 thumb or forefinger, when it should "slip," that is, separate in the same 

 manner as when real ripe, but requiring some little force but not enough 

 to break the stem or flesh out, conditions of the vines, and climate will 

 at times vary the picker's judgment to some extent; but by cutting oc- 

 casionally a melon the point can be decided. It is very essential that 

 pickers be carefully instructed, and closely watched, for the good returns 

 should not be expected from green, or overripe cantaloupes. 



PACKING 



The fruit should be carefully handled, not bruised, or roughly 

 shaken to loosen the seed cavity, they should be hurried to the shade 

 and crated as soon as possible; the cantaloupes should be carefully graded 

 before crating, not only as to size, but for condition of ripeness; for 

 there will always be some a little too ripe which must not be crated with 

 the green-ripes, or the markets will suffer. In grading, the ripe melons 

 can often be marketed in local or nearby markets, and the ones just right 

 reserved for the long distance shipments. 



In crating, the layers must be uniform, and tight, but not so 

 crowded as to crush or bruise the flesh, yet there should not be a loose 

 melon in the crate if it is expected to carry well. 



The crate has been the standard package for long distance hauls. 

 The standard crate of forty-five cantaloupes has been most popular, but 

 there is a tendency now for different sized crates, so that a better grade 

 of packing is possible; as it is impossible to find cantaloupes that will 

 run absolutely uniform, the different seasons will change the proportion 

 of standard to "jumbo" or "pony" cantaloupes, and it is not possible to 

 crate the different sizes and make a uniform pack. 



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