MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION OF WESTERN MUSKMELONS. 19 
to an oversupplied market, but to the unmerchantable quality of 
the goods. The figures presented are founded, first, on returns 
secured in 1915; second, on the quality of goods sold in each market; 
and, finally, on the opinion of dealers of long experience whose knowl- 
edge of conditions extends over many seasons. It is believed that 
these figures are the most nearly accurate which have been worked 
out. The estimates of consuming capacities of southern markets 
are based only on conditions prevailing in the early part of the season 
before local competition commenced. 
It is possible that consuming capacities in succeeding years may be 
a trifle larger, as it must be remembered that during the Imperial 
Valley season in 1915 market conditions were not favorable to the 
consumption of muskmelons. The largest crop on record was moved 
in a season beginning nine days later than in 1914, when the next 
largest crop was moved. The weather in the eastern markets during 
this period was the coldest and rainiest known for many years. The 
only favorable feature was the unusually poor quality of the bulk 
of southern melons which came on the market in competition with 
Imperial Valley stock in July. 
By referring to Table Ait may be seen that receipts in most markets 
frequently have surpassed the estimated consuming capacity, and 
the result was necessarily a net loss to the grower. This may be 
avoided to some extent by efficient distribution, but there have been 
times each season when, due to extremely heavy shipments, practi- 
cally all the available markets of the United States have been over- 
supplied. 
The chart shown in figure 1 represents graphically the daily ship- 
ments of 1913, 1914, and 1915. The heavy line drawn across the 
page at 148 cars represents the estimated maximum daily profitable 
consuming capacity of the United States. When the movement 
exceeds this number of cars, growers should restrict their shipments 
•or be prepared to stand a loss, since muskmelons can not be stored 
successfully. It will be seen that at various times in the past three 
years the total shipments have amounted to more than the total 
estimated consuming capacity of the entire United States. 
It must not be imagined, however, that the estimates contained in 
this bulletin represent the ultimate consuming capacity of the indi- 
vidual markets in any case or of the United States as a whole. Much 
opportunity exists to broaden market outlets and to develop the 
consuming capacity of the markets now in use. Table 7 lists 
the total quantities of Imperial Valley melons consumed by the 
various markets in the United States in 1914 and 1915. A study of 
this table shows that some 20 new markets that had never before 
received carloads received direct shipments of muskmelons in the 
