10 BULLETIN 315, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



COMPETING CROPS. 



The size of other crops competing with cantaloupes was above the 

 ordinary during the 1914 season. These crops very evidently affect 

 the price of and demand for cantaloupes. It is difficult for those out- 

 side of the produce trade to realize to what extent the profitable 

 marketing of one perishable crop may be hindered when a few hun- 

 dred cars of a competing product are added to the average or antici- 

 pated supply. The possibility of the consumers substituting one fruit 

 for another is a phase of marketing that must always be borne in mind 

 in dealing with highly perishable products. Such fruits as water- 

 melons, peaches, plums, and grapes can easily replace cantaloupes on 

 the average table, and when the supplies of these competing fruits are 

 abundant and prices low a noticeable weakening in the demand for 

 cantaloupes generally is felt. 



LENGTH OF SHIPPING SEASON. 



The duration of the cantaloupe season has a direct influence on the 

 cmestion of demand. The average length of time that cantaloupes 

 are to be found on the principal markets is four and one-half to five 

 months. This is a long season for any fruit, and there is danger that 

 the consumers will be tired of cantaloupes before the supply is ex- 

 hausted. Many cases were found toward the close of the 1914 season 

 where restaurants and cafes no longer included cantaloupes in their 

 menu, although the quality was still good and prices were low. As 

 the trade turns to other fruits it becomes increasingly difficult to 

 effect sales of cantaloupes. 



MARKET PREFERENCES. 



In some markets the preferences of dealers and of the consuming 

 public for certain kinds of melons or certain packages are pronounced. 

 These preferences are reflected through the grocer to the jobber and 

 through the jobber to the wholesaler or broker. In some markets 

 pink-fleshed melons are in greater demand than the green meats, while 

 in other cities the opposite is true. Paper-wrapped cantaloupes are 

 preferred by the trade of some cities on account of their attractive- 

 ness, while in others the dealers object to the paper wrapper, believing 

 that it promotes decay by retarding evaporation after the melons 

 sweat on being taken from a refrigerator car. The wrapper also pre- 

 vents easy inspection by the buyer. Some assert that as the bright- 

 colored wrapper becomes faded by the sun and torn to allow inspec- 

 tion, it detracts from, rather than adds to, the appearance of the fruit. 



