| Show dk the succulent watermelon as caza assia too pos niQi tweet nd de holcik hoe cik good cut a baay cbill perel nathla in it U de dij ald a buicy gcorge roll loo watermelon time Is a season of re voicing when happiness fills the heart 5 mid stomach ot the land what does filhe average american care about bank allures international complications or athe report of the expedition so I 1 long as the biggest greenest and most luscious of all fruits Is in season and a plentiful and cheap supply demands his attention the taste for watermelon Is not acquired it 13 inborn everybody from the highest to the lowest devours he vours with avidity the rich red seed peeked heart that lies inside the green rind the love of the fruit Is not confined to persons of african descent though sambo does aln de million good the mogro and the caucasian email boy run neck and neck in the race for the watermelon eating record it Is doubtful which of these two sec of the populace does more to get lid of the crop and they are aided by every one else unfortunately for the great amerl tean public this years melon crop has acen very poor both in quantity and quality lovers of garls ins the fruit Is called look back with longing to last year when nn average crop was gathered and two years ago when tho production of wa ter melons broke all records for num iber and quality and in some sections of the country melon growers were eager to give them away since marketing ald not pay freight charges this year the melon situation Is far different the output Is barely 40 per cent of what it should be and prices are correspondingly despondingly ly high dealers are asking to 30 per melons that would have been dear at 10 two years ago new york probably the greatest market in the world reports that not in many years has fhe crop been so poor and the average price BO agh the poorness of this years melons in the south and east at any rate may be attributed to the late wet spring and the heat and variability of the early part 0 the summer watermelon time begins about the ast 1st of june and lasts until the ast 1st of september but the real beason Is july and augusta eastern watermelon dealers get their first specimens about the middle of the early melons arrive from florida and the price this year has been na blan as 30 for later the fruit comas in from georgia south carolina north carolina virginia and maryland in turn the last named state Is the one farthest north in which wa iter melons are grown in quantity the markets in the middle and western parts of the united states are supplied from texas missouri arkansas and neighboring states none of the western melons reaches the eastern markets since the freight charges pre elude the possibility of profit quanta ales of the watermelons water melons sister fruit the cantaloupe or muskmelon bobev 1 er reach new york from the west I 1 watermelons Water melons are shipped in carload foots about 1200 constituting a load the average price this season has been about a carload giving each mel on a wholesale price ot 20 cents it la to note that one weighing less than 20 pounds Is not considered marketable and that the average weight Is 30 pounds very few aloert C can melons are shipped abroad amert leans arc quite willing and able even in seasons of plenty to consume all t that ara grown the watermelon Is not unknown in foreign countries horev er since the vine Is a native of asia and africa travelers ua that not even in the heart of the souta i cm black belt are melons found as lus clous as some that grow wild in the african jungle those who know tho possibilities of a 50 pound georgia million take this assertion with a p aln of salt in this connection it Is well to noto that many folks especially in the north flavor the red meat with salt before eating it an old method given as the best way to cat a watermelon Is as follows first get your melon from a patch belonging to bome one else then hide it in the evening in order to cool t anko the melon out break it open against a rock and ent it with your aln gera you by no means the fruit by the touch of a metal in ele its delicate flavor will b spoiled mclona enten this way are to be good provided you aade taken the precaution of securing a large one dealers in watermelons water melons and experts in eating thorn grade tho fruit according to elze tho larger the better although about CO varieties or watce lariton aro known to seeds men only two or three distinctions are made by the wholesalers and tho public two general shapes are known tle long ovoid melon and the rounder variety the latter la the one usually seen and preferred in some markets though there Is little to choose between them in point of flavor or quality people aro beginning to icam that a watermelon Is not always to be judged by its outside A rough exterior often acovera THE ACME OF BLISS the ripest riches of hearts planters also are beginning to learn that it pays to devote time and attention to the growing of excellent varieties for this reason there has been during the past few years a tendency on the part of advanced growers to ship in crates and boxes with special labels one planter whose fruit goes largely to the chicago market labels his product with the biblical quotation by their fruits shall ye know them viewed as an item in the commerce of the united states the watermelon Is of considerable importance one hundred million melons Is one estimate of the size of the average crop when one considers the great number of men needed to handle these it will easily be seen that thousands of people mako their living from the fruit even after it goes to tho market the melon passes through three or tour hands before reaching the consumer later when the watery inside Is only a delightful memory the rind furnishes work for an army of garbage gatherers in the cities truly the watermelon Is a fruit whose greatness Is unappreciated by the average eater |
