CANTALOUPE MARKETING IN THE LARGER CITIES. 15 
poor quality and condition of many of the perishable products 
which they are forced to buy seem to be the greatest of these handi- 
caps. 
In the marketing of cantaloupes there is a good opportunity for 
retailers to increase their sales and reduce their losses by encouraging 
consumers to buy flat crates containing from 9 to 15 melons. A 
family of average size can easily use this number before they spoil 
by selecting the ripest each day and allowing the greener cantaloupes 
to mature. The consumer profits by getting fresh goods that have 
not been injured by repeated handling and at a considerable saving 
in cost, since the retailer can afford to work on a small margin when 
he sells in the original package. The retail agencies, in turn, gain 
by increased sales and quick turnovers, fewer poor melons returned, 
and reduced loss through deterioration. Instances were noticed 
where progressive stores employed this method and in a short time 
built up their trade from 2 or 3 to from 15 to 25 flat crates per day. 
CANTALOUPE SHIPMENTS IN 1914. 
Early in the spring of 1915 inquiries were addressed to railroad 
station agents at points where cantaloupes were believed to originate 
in carloads, asking for a complete record of the shipments during 
1914. As the result of these inquiries the department has secured 
a fairly complete list of the points shipping cantaloupes in 1914, 
together with the number of carloads shipped from each. These 
figures have been checked to a large extent by general railroad 
officials of the lines on which most of the cantaloupes originate. 
The map, charts, and tabulations which are the result of this 
inquiry should be of interest and value to the grower, the shipper, 
the distributor, and to all of those engaged in the handling of the 
cantaloupe crop. 
POSSIBLE SOURCES OF ERROR. 
It is very difficult to secure a complete tabulation of shipments of 
any perishable fruit or vegetable. This is especially true of any 
commodity produced in large quantities in the immediate vicinity 
of consuming centers. The transportation in such cases may be 
largely by wagon, truck, or trolley, and consequently the informa- 
tion if obtainable at all must be gathered from a large number of 
sources. In those localities where there are many shipments by 
boat the compilation of statistics on a carload basis is exceedingly 
difficult. In some cases it is probable that the tabulation here 
given is incomplete as to such shipments, and the figures presented 
were obtained by reducing crates and other packages to equivalent 
carloads. 
