.114 '^^^^ CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



About once a season one gets a delicious little melon at a store 

 and then nobody Icnows how it happened. 



The early melons, the imported ones, are atrocious, hard, 

 unripe, and flavorless. Connecticut men ought to grow good 

 melons, oughtn't they? It doesn't seem as if we used to have 

 such poor melons. What's the matter? have they run out? 

 One dealer told me that the East Hartford melons were reli- 

 able, but there were not enough of them. Another dealer 

 told me that the East Hartford melons did not "pan out." 

 You can take your choice. "I know not what the truth may be, 

 I tell the tale as 'twas told to me." I know good melons can 

 be raised in this State, for I have eaten the most delicious 

 ones, grown in Wallingford, but they were not bought in open 

 market, but were direct from the melon patch and in the day- 

 time at that. The melon is a product that everyone wants. 

 "(Caterers cut out melons from their bill of fare, because they 

 cannot be sure of getting good ones.) 



To sum lip : What the consumer wants is more fruit, 

 earlier native fruit, and cleaner fruit. And especially does 

 she want to be able to buy from a label. She wants to go to 

 market and see a label on crate or box that stands for some- 

 thing. She wants to be absolutely sure that that label means 

 always and ever\where, fruit that is fresh, is ripe, is packed 

 under the best conditions, and is honest and vrue all the way 

 through. You know that any grower that establishes that 

 confidence in his products and then lives up to his reputation, 

 has laid a sure foundation for a profitable and lasting busi- 

 ness. It's worth trying. You have shining examples of this 

 method of business in Connecticut, why don't all of you do 

 thus and let the consumer have the best there is going? The 

 more attractively fruit is put before the public, the more con- 

 sumers. Lots of people buy things that look tempting, when 

 they would pass b-v the ordinary-looking fruit. We have 

 horseless carriages, smokeless powder, seedless oranges ; now 

 we want '"dirtless berries," "bugless fruit,^' "coreless apples," 

 "seedless grapes," and "eyeless potatoes." And we want them 

 right away quick. 



