2028 



MELON 



MELON 



tians as a cultivs.tcii pl.-mt. It was |)rol):\l)ly intni- 

 duooil into tho Moililorraiioan covintrios of Kuropo 

 alMUt the lH^};''>"i"!J >^f 'li'^ C'liristian era. Pliny rofoi-s 

 to a "now form of oiu-mnlior. . . . oallotl ititlopcpo, 

 which prows on the (irouml in a round form, and . . 

 . . alfhouiih not siispondod, yot the fruit separates 

 from the stem at maturity." Nomtitis, in tlie sixth eeii- 

 tury, siH-aks of "eueumhers" whieh arc highly odorous. 

 It seems probable that these authors i-efer to the musk- 



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



melon. By the sixteenth century, many varieties of 

 muskmelon were known to European «Titers. 



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 1.53.5, "musk melons" were mentioned by a 

 traveler on the St. LawTence. Melons were reported in 

 New Mexico in 1.540, and were abundant in Haj'ti in 

 156.5. In 1584 they were fovmd in Virginia by Captains 

 Amidos and Barlow. In 1(509 they were seen on the 

 Huflson River, and were described as abundant in 

 New England in lfi29. In 1806, thirteen kinds were 

 mentioned by M'Mahon as being under culture in 

 America. At the present time, over 4(M) different variety 

 names are given in American seed catalogues, although 

 the number of important varieties is very much less. 



There are two [)rincipal cla.sses of muskinelons, the 

 soft-rinded or netted melons, often called nutmeg 

 melons (Kig. 2.3.52), and the hard-rinded or warty melons, 

 known technically as rock melons or cantaloupes. The 

 latter cla-ss is grown princiiially in Europe, often under 

 glass, and is little known in .\merica. 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 typ(; 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 standjtoint, since the large- 

 fruited melons are grfiwn [)rincipallj' 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 i)ack(!d 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 extensiv(;ly handled on the general 

 market than the large-fruiU^d tyjje. The typical small- 

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

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



fruileil melons weigh anywhere from two to fifteen 

 pounds each. 



The flesh of the muskmelon may be either salmon- 

 colored or greenish. Th(> green-fleshed sorts are the 

 more delicately flavoretl, while the salmon-fleshed 

 varieties are likely to have a more prono\m(^e(l musky 

 flavor. l''ormerly, the green-llesheil sorts were pre- 

 fiM-red on most markets; but in the last few years the 

 demand for salmon-fieshcd sorts has been increasing 

 rapidly. 



Tlie nuiskmelon thrives best in a fairly warm climate, 

 but is not .so [)artial to intense summer heat as is the 

 watermelon. It can be grown 

 wherever the summers are sudi- 

 ciently long to enable it to 

 develop and mature its crop 

 between the frosts of spring 

 and fall. From foiu' to five 

 months are requircMl 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, mu.skmelons were 

 grown ])rincipally in private 

 gar<lcns, 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. 

 The.se melons were principally the Hackensack and 

 Anne Arimdel varieties (large-fruiteil), and the Jenny 

 Lind, a small oblate melon. These melons supplied 

 the market principally from the middle of July tiU 

 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 sea.son. 



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

 netted green-fleshed fruit, was first introduced to the 

 public. This variety w;us <!estined to revolutionize 

 the melon industry of America. It was tested for a 

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

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

 Ea.stwood 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 reaflily .sold and an order 

 receivcfl 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 ('limax biiskets. 



Meanwhile the industry hiid been developing at 

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

 ments had been made entirely by local express, and to 



