2028 



MELON 



MELON 



tians as a cultivated plant. It was probably intro- 

 duced into the Mediterranean countries of Europe 

 about the beginning of the Christian era. Pliny refers 

 to a "new form of cucumber. . . . called melopepo, 

 which grows on the ground in a round form, and . . 

 . . although not suspended, yet the fruit separates 

 from the stem at maturity." Nonnius, in the sixth cen- 

 tury, speaks of "cucumbers" which are highly odorous. 

 It seems probable that these authors refer to the musk- 



2351. The Orange or Chi to melon. Cucumis Melo var. Chito. Used in preserving. 



melon. By the sixteenth century, many varieties of 

 muskmelon were known to European writers. 



The melon reached America among the earliest 

 importations of plants from the Old World, for in 1494 

 it was recorded as grown by the companions of Colum- 

 bus. In 1535, "musk melons" were mentioned by a 

 traveler on the St. Lawrence. Melons were reported in 

 New Mexico in 1540, and were abundant in Hayti in 

 1565. In 1584 they were found in Virginia by Captains 

 Amidos and Barlow. In 1609 they were seen on the 

 Hudson River, and were described as abundant in 

 New England in 1629. In 1806, thirteen kinds were 

 mentioned by M'Mahon as being under culture in 

 America. At the present time, over 400 different variety 

 names are given in American seed catalogues, although 

 the number of important varieties is very much less. 



There are two principal classes of muskmelons, the 

 soft-rinded or netted melons, often called nutmeg 

 melons (Fig. 2352), and the hard-rinded or warty melons, 

 known technically as rock melons or cantaloupes. The 

 latter class is grown principally in Europe, often under 

 glass, and is little known in America. The term canta- 

 loupe as used in America is primarily a trade name 

 employed to designate nutmeg melons in general, or, 

 more often, the small type of melon that is shipped in 

 baskets or crates. 



The class of muskmelons commonly grown in America 

 may be arbitrarily divided into two groups: large- 

 fruited and small-fruited. This classification is impor- 

 tant from -a marketing standpoint, since the large- 

 fruited melons are grown principally by market -gar- 

 deners, and hauled in bulk to their respective markets, 

 where they are sold by count, though sometimes they 

 are grown as a truck crop and packed in crates to be 

 shipped to the general market. The small-fruited 

 melons are usually packed in crates or baskets, and are 

 very much more extensively handled on the general 

 market than the large-fruited type. The typical small- 

 fruited or "crate" melons weigh about one and one- 

 fourth to one and one-half pounds each; the large- 



fruited melons weigh anywhere from two to fifteen 

 pounds each. 



The flesh of the muskmelon may be either salmon- 

 colored or greenish. The green-fleshed sorts are the 

 more delicately flavored, while the salmon-fleshed 

 varieties are likely to have a more pronounced musky 

 flavor. Formerly, the green-fleshed sorts were pre- 

 ferred on most markets; but in the last few years the 

 demand for salmon-fleshed sorts has been increasing 

 rapidly. 



The muskmelon thrives best in a fairly warm climate, 

 but is not so partial to intense summer heat as is the 

 watermelon. It can be grown 

 wherever the summers are suffi- 

 ciently long to enable it to 

 develop and mature its crop 

 between the frosts of spring 

 and fall. From four to five 

 months are required from the 

 planting of the seed to the end 

 of the harvest. It is considered 

 an exacting crop, and is there- 

 fore often omitted from home 

 gardens even in regions where it 

 might readily be grown. 



Development of the industry. 



Up to 1870, muskmelons were 

 grown principally in private 

 gardens, and it was unusual to 

 see them on the markets. A 

 little later, however, the grow- 

 ing of muskmelons for the New 

 York and other eastern mar- 

 kets was started in Maryland, 

 Delaware, and New Jersey. 

 These melons were principally the Hackensack and 

 Anne Arundel varieties (large-fruited), and the Jenny 

 Lind, a small oblate melon. These melons supplied 

 the market principally from the middle of July till 

 the middle of August. Shipments increased from year 

 to year until in the nineties the New York market 

 sometimes handled from two to three carloads a day 

 at the height of the season. 



In 1881 the Netted Gem melon, a small, oval, heavily 

 netted green-fleshed fruit, was first introduced to the 

 public. This variety was destined to revolutionize 

 the melon industry of America. It was tested for a 

 few years, and in 1885 was grown for market in a small 

 way by Wm. S. Ross at Alma, Illinois, and by J. W. 

 Eastwood at Rocky Ford, Colorado. Each planted 

 about one-half acre that year. So far as known, these 

 plantings marked the real beginning of the melon 

 industry in Illinois and in Colorado. Having more 

 melons than his local market could consume, Ross 

 shipped two barrels to Chicago in August, 1885. These 

 were the first melons of this type ever seen on the Chi- 

 cago market, and were the occasion of considerable 

 amusement on South Water Street when the barrels 

 were opened; the melons seemed ridiculously small as 

 compared with the Hackensack and other melons then 

 on the market. However, after the flavor had been 

 tested, the melons were readily sold and an order 

 received for all that could be furnished. The next year, 

 Ross planted 20 acres, and a few years later, 90 acres. 

 Soon a number of his neighbors began planting, and 

 the industry grew at Alma, until the shipments reached 

 ten to fifteen carloads a day. In 1900, from Alma 

 alone 253 carloads were shipped. In the meantime the 

 industry had spread to other Illinois points, including 

 Anna and Balcom in the extreme southern part of the 

 state. Most of the Illinois melons were shipped in 

 one-third-bushel Climax baskets. 



Meanwhile the industry had been developing at 

 Rocky Ford, Colorado, though up to 1894 the ship- 

 ments had been made entirely by local express, and to 



