MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION OF WESTERN MUSKMELONS. 35 
All of which is mutually agreed by and between the parties hereto. 
In Avitness whereof the said party of the first part has caused this- agreement to be 
signed on its behalf by its manager and said second party has caused the same to 
be signed in its name by its president and secretary the day and year first above 
written. 
Ordway Contracts. 
In Ordway all contracts were made on the advance-per-crate 
basis in 1915, the crate material being furnished to the growers by 
the distributors either at cost or at a small margin above cost. All 
advances were likewise a guaranty of the season's average net return, 
but could be discontinued by the distributor at any time upon 24 
hours' written notice. The average advance on standard flat or 
jumbo flat crates of Burrell Gems was 21 cents and the average 
advance on pony flats was 9 cents. The distributors uniformly 
received a compensation of 17§ per cent commission, the handling 
of Burrell Gem melons being said to be somewhat more expensive 
than the handling of the green-meated varieties. 
COOPERATION. 
Cooperation in the Colorado muskmelon districts is generally in 
a more advanced stage than in many of the other melon-producing 
sections. The growers are organized at practically all of the ship- 
ping stations, and contracts are made between associations and 
distributors rather than between individual growers and distributors. 
Some progress has been made in the direct purchasing of supplies by 
associations, and in most cases association officials make a fairly 
accurate audit and check of distributors' books. The work of the 
associations might be extended considerably to good advantage, 
QUALITY. 
Causes of Poor Quality in 1915. 
The marketing of the 1915 muskmelon crop from Colorado was un- 
fortunate and unsuccessful. This condition maybe attributed almost 
entirely to the generally very poor quality of the melons shipped. 
This was due to several causes, including a late spring, which caused 
replanting and a late crop, and the harvesting of green melons. 
Other reasons were unseasonably cold and wet weather during the 
summer, causing slow growth, the presence of some rust, and the 
scarring of many of the melons by grasshoppers. Although these latter 
causes contributed to unsatisfactory quality, they were almost 
