MUSKMELONS— MONTREAL MARKET MUSKMBLON 



1391 



No. 2 grade should consist of tlie balance 

 of the salable melons. These should be 

 of fair quality and far superior to the 

 flavorless culls sometimes shipped by 

 unscrupulous growers. 



There is a close relation between the 

 amount and character of netting and the 

 quality of a melon, so that after a little 

 experience it is possible to grade melons 

 with extreme accuracy as to quality on 

 the basis of netting. As a rule the denser 

 and more fully developed the netting 

 the better the quality of the melon. The 

 netting should stand out like whip-cords 

 on melons graded as fancy stock. Well- 

 netted melons in which the netting is 

 not quite so prominent, together with 

 off-sizes of the best-netted melons, may 

 be graded as No. 1. Specimens with still 

 less netting, but in which the netting is 

 fairly well developed, may be graded as 

 No. 2. The extent to which the netting 

 is developed is more important than the 

 absolute amount of netting in determin- 

 ing whether a given specimen shall be 

 graded as a No. 2 or a cull. Melons in 

 which the netting is very poorly devel- 

 oped, as well as those without any net- 

 ting, should be classed as culls. Cracked 

 and over-ripe specimens must be graded 

 as culls even though of fine quality, for 

 they would be likely to spoil before 

 reaching the consumer. 



The above considerations refer to the 

 grading of melons from a plantation in 

 which the vines are in a normal and 

 vigorous condition. As the season ad- 

 vances and the vines become somewhat 

 weakened, more and more severe grad- 

 ing must be practiced, until finally it 

 may become necessary to eliminate the 

 No. 1 and fancy grades and ship only 

 No, 2 stock. This stock will be much 

 better netted than that shipped under 

 the same brand earlier in the season on 

 account of the more severe grading, and 

 should be of fully as good quality. All 

 through the shipping season a few mel- 

 ons should be cut and tasted each day, 

 so that the basis of grading may be 

 changed as the conditions warrant. In 

 this way only can the grower be cer- 

 tain that he is shipping the same quality 



of melon under the same brand through- 

 out the season. 



Packing 



While the grading of melons as to 

 quality is of extreme importance, the 

 full benefit of such grading cannot be 

 secured unless methods of packing are 

 employed which will enable the melons 

 to present an attractive appearance upon 

 the market. This means that the melons 

 in a given package must be fairly uni- 

 form in size, arranged in an attractive 

 manner and so packed that each speci- 

 men will remain in the exact position 

 where it was placed by the packer. The 

 packing must be tight and yet the mel- 

 ons not bruised by being jammed into 

 place. 



Considerable difficulty is sometimes 

 experienced by growers in packing mel- 

 ons of different sizes. Much of this dif- 

 ficulty can be avoided by grading the 

 melons according to size as well as qual- 

 ity, and adopting different styles of pack 

 to accommodate the different sizes. If 

 this is done nearly all sizes of Gem mel- 

 ons can readily be packed in climax 

 baskets. 



Since the basket is larger at the top 

 than at the bottom two distinct sizes of 

 melon must be used in the packing of 

 each basket, though the difference be- 

 tween these two sizes should be as slight 

 as is consistent with tight packing and 

 the handling of the entire crop. The 

 melons in each layer should be as uni- 

 form as possible in size and shape. 



Fabian G-arcia, 

 Santa Fe, N. M. 



MONTREAL MARKET MUSKMEI/OF 



This highly remunerative variety is 

 grown almost wholly in a small territory 

 near Montreal, Canada While the returns 

 to growers have been phenomenal, the 

 cost and difficulty of raising them has 

 deterred possible growers in other sec- 

 tions. Gross incomes of from $1,500 to 

 $2,500 per acre are reported, the Boston 

 and New York markets taking the bulk 

 of the melons 



They are started in hotbeds and grown 

 in cold frames until the first melons have 

 reached full growth, when the cold frames 



