HARVESTING AND MARKETING MELONS 55 



Owing to the increased cost of basket and crate 

 material, it will not pay to crate anything but first- 

 class melons. All others should be shipped in bulk 

 or in barrels, or sold at home for what they will 

 bring. As fast as the baskets or crates are filled, 

 they should be stamped with the name and grade of 

 melon and also the name or initial and address of 

 the grower. For example, Netted Gem, Select, 

 Thomas Henry, or T. H., Rocky Ford, Col. This 

 shows at once that the grower has faith in his 

 melons, and that he is not afraid to let the con- 

 sumer know where they came from. It also en- 

 ables the consumer to come back for more of the 

 same kind if he finds them up to the standard of 

 excellence. 



A grower who cares anything for his reputation 

 cannot afford to place his name on anything but 

 a first-class article. (See Fig. 14.) As soon as the 

 crates are ready, they should be taken directly to 

 the refrigerator cars and packed in as closely as 

 possible, so as to prevent any shaking about while 

 in transit. Ordinary cars will hold from 1,200 to 

 1,400 Climax baskets, which would make from 

 20,000 to 22,000 melons to the car of the Rocky 

 Ford or Netted Gem type. 



Watermelons are nearly always shipped in bulk, 

 loose in the car, and as about three times as many 

 acres are devoted to the growing of watermelons 

 in tiie United States as are given to cantaloupes, 

 it will be readily seen that the melon business as- 

 sumes large proportions in the commercial life of 

 this country and makes large demands upon the 

 transportation facilities. In some of the prominent 

 melon-growing states, the yield of watermelons per 



