42 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



First is the market. I think this factor places us at a 

 distinct advantage over any other State in which melons are 

 grown commercially. We have an excellent local market, 

 which certain growers have already developed for themselves 

 because of the quality of their melons, and then there is the 

 general local market, which is never glutted with melons of 

 good quality, though there may be an excess of the poor ones 

 grown here and elsewhere. If it pays to ship in poor Rocky 

 Ford melons from distant States, ought it not to pay to grow 

 good melons locally? But aside from our local markets, 

 \yhich can take care of most of the crop at present, we are 

 exceptionally well situated for the New York and Boston mar- 

 kets. If it pays to ship melons from Montreal to Boston, it 

 certainly ought to from Connecticut, when we have learned 

 the tricks of successful melon culture. Even now we ship 

 some melons to New York and Boston. I understand that 

 melons on the Boston market last season from the vicinity of 

 North Haven were a success, both financially and otherwise. 

 At least concerning their quality, I was informed by one who 

 bought them in the open market that they were equal to any 

 he had ever eaten. A certain grower near Westport for some 

 years has been sencHng melons to New York, sometimes sell- 

 ing them by the pound, and his success has encouraged cer- 

 tain of his neighbors to enter the business. The market, I 

 think we can conclude, is not an unfavorable factor in this 

 State. 



The second factor, or set of factors, is the land and cul- 

 tural conditions, and these do not present any unusual draw^- 

 backs for Connecticut. The usual care in fertilization and 

 cultivation pays here as with other crops, and while there are 

 no mysterious features connected with these, of course expe- 

 rience always gives to each grower its advantages. As mel- 

 ons love a warm, dry season, certain exposures where the 

 sunlight is greatest and the soil is warm, rather than wet and 

 cold, have their advantages. Possibly certain definite regions 

 like the sandy soils around North Haven may prove especially 

 adapted to the growing of melons. 



