Development oe Rockyeord CanataLoupe Industry. 5 
market then developed. One of the first evidences of “too many” 
cantaloupes, was the lack of boxes and barrels for shipping. Ne¬ 
cessity, however, became the mother of invention, and someone 
conceived the idea of making a crude crate. Twelve-inch board 
and common lath were utilized, half of the length of the lath be¬ 
ing used for slats, and as this happened to accomodate about 45 
averaged sized melons, the size of the future standard crate was 
thus arbitrarily determined. Although the empty boxes were con¬ 
stantly being returned from the Pueblo and Denver markets, the 
local supply of lath and twelve-inch boards was soon exhausted. 
Glowing reports from the first shipments of the season cre¬ 
ated .such enthusiasm, that every melon which could possibly be 
shipped was hurried onto the market, only to find at the end of 
the season, that much of the crop had not paid express charges. 
The high prices which a favored few obtained at the beginning 
of the season acted like a lucky strike in a mining camp, and each 
spring found new growers and a constantly increasing acreage. 
For many years the cantaloupes were shipped entirely by local 
express, each grower making his individual consignments to the var¬ 
ious Colorado markets. In 1894 the first step toward co-opera¬ 
tive effort in marketing cantaloupes was taken, groups of neigh¬ 
bors combining to load a ventilator car and ship by freight, thus 
securing greatly reduced transportation. The cars were con¬ 
signed to commission men on the various markets who remitted 
to the individual consignors who made up the car. Messrs. G. 
W. Swink, A. C. Comer, A. P. Kouns were representative men 
in these early shipping groups. Two years later the growers, 
for the first time, were supplied with regular crates manufac¬ 
tured at the lumber mills. These were of the same dimensions 
as the first crude crate, and were essentially the same as those 
that have since been used. 
Following the introduction of the crate, came the next step 
towards co-operative organization, when one of the shipping groups, 
already referred to, added a few members, elected officers, and 
effected a formal organization which has since been known as the 
“Kouns Party.” Their plan was to ship to specially authorized 
agents or commission men who contracted to handle their canta¬ 
loupes exclusively. They shipped most of their cantaloupes to 
Denver, receiving fair returns considering the glutted condition of 
the Colorado markets that season. Their organization had its ad¬ 
vantages, but as they had no control over the heavy shipments 
of others, the general results of 1896 were a repetition of former 
failures. Many growers after laboring all summer to produce a 
crop of cantaloupes, were presented with bills for transportation, 
their summer’s labor having been sacrified as they believed, to the 
