47O VEGETABLE GARDENING 



to harvest the crop for a number of years can invariably 

 tell when a melon is ripe, but they are unable to explain 

 how they know. The sound emitted when the melons 

 are "thumped" is the most reliable means of deter- 

 mining the state of ripeness. Regarding" this matter the 

 Georgia Station (Ga. Sta. Bui. 38, p. 76) calls attention 

 to the advice of the old negro "mammy" in the ballad, 

 when she berated her grandson for stealing a green 

 melon : "Be shore, when you thumps 'em dey allus soun' 

 'plunk.'" The Arizona Station (Circular 44) writes: 

 "Most varieties give forth a distinctly different sound 

 when ripe and when green. The greener the melon, the 

 sharper and more metallic is the ring that it gives forth 

 if snapped with the finger. As the melon matures and 

 becomes less solid, it gives forth a somewhat hollow and 

 distinctly muffled ring. The riper the melon, the more 

 nearly the sound given will be like that produced when 

 the palm of the hand is snapped with the finger. Some 

 varieties will be ready for market, while the melons still 

 give forth a somewhat metallic sound, while others must 

 be left on the vines until the sound is quite a 'dead' one. 

 These are matters that can soon be learned by experi- 

 ence. The writer knows by long experience that if 

 proper precaution is taken and a doubtful melon cut oc- 

 casionally, there is little excuse for ever putting a green 

 melon upon the market." 



The test of the tendril (the melon being considered 

 ripe when the tendril is dead) is unreliable. When the 

 underside of the melon "begins to turn yellowish and be- 

 comes rough, pimply or warty, with the surface suffi- 

 ciently hard to resist the fingernail when scratched, it 

 is usually a fair sign of ripeness." 



Watermelons are shipped in bulk in box cars, which 

 are bedded with straw. They are usually loaded four 

 deep in the cars and the freight paid according to 

 weight. The following table shows the number of 



