462 GARDEN FARMING 



Duke Jones, Pride of Georgia, or Jones, Mammoth Iron Clad, and 

 Dixie are the best. Among the recent introductions worthy of 

 note is a Spanish type called Pasadena. Its particular merit is its 

 good quality and the attractive color of its flesh, which is a very 

 deep, bright red. Figure 175 shows the form and cross section 

 of a good type of table melon. 



Experience has demonstrated that the highest quality melons, 

 which have brittle flesh, few fibers, and a thin rind, are not well 

 adapted for shipping purposes. Professor Starnes gives the points 

 of excellence in a market melon as follows : 



Shipping capacity .....35 



Size 25 



Productiveness 15 



Quality . . i : *-^ * . . 10 



Earliness . . . .. . ... . *".- ; . . . 8 



Shape 4 



Color of flesh 2 



Color of rind and markings i 



Total 100 



The most desirable market melons weigh from 20 to 30 pounds, 

 and have bright red flesh of fair texture and good shipping qualities. 



Harvesting and marketing. Watermelons are a comparatively 

 cheap product and are therefore handled in the least expensive 

 manner possible. Shipments do not begin to any great extent 

 until the melons can be handled in carload lots. A few of the 

 earliest melons are shipped in ventilated barrels like squashes, but 

 the great bulk of the product is shipped in carloads or in cargo 

 lots by small sailing or motor crafts. They are too bulky and too 

 heavy to be transported profitably by express or by local freight. 



At harvest time it is necessary that mature, well-developed 

 melons be selected and that they be handled in the most careful 

 manner possible. Melons are very brittle and easily broken. The 

 wagons in which they are hauled to the car are usually provided 

 with litter of some kind on which to lay the fruits, and as they are 

 placed in the car, they are handled carefully to prevent bruising. 

 It is a wise precaution to place the smaller melons in the bottom 

 of the car, for 'they will carry a greater weight proportionately than 

 the large ones. 



