Imperial Valley Press

Cant Yield Lowest In I. V. History

Imperial Valley growers and shippers closed the cantaloupe record books Saturday, listing the lightest crop since 1918 with the lowest yields in the history of the melon industry in the county, according to the annual report of the Federal-State market news service.

Everything seemed to happen to the 1940 crop. First there was the problem of trying out new strains of seed to replace the famous "Resistant 45", which succumbed to new form of mildew last season. Unusually warm winter months brought the crop on ahead of schedule and occasioned the shipment of melons to eastern markets before the arrival of "melon weather" in the east. Then mildew attacked the crop again and the eating quality and production were seriously affected.

Then on the night of May 18 the now famous earthquake hit the valley, caused breaks in canals and a subsequent water shortage which injured some crops. To top it off an unusually warm spell in June wilted vines, blistered fruit in several areas.

Light yields occasioned by the above-mentioned obstacles, caused high production costs and growers netted small profits, particularly in early melons. Some growers lost money on the deal.

The first car of cantaloupes was shipped on April 3, earlier than any previous season except 1934 when the first car rolled out on April 2. Movement increased slowly and it was not until a month later that carlot shipments reached 25 cars daily.

The peak of the early crop and what proved to be the peak of the season, was reached on May 17, when 84 cars were billed. After dropping off to about half this volume at the end of the month, loadings began to increase as the late crop came into maturity. On June 8 shipment totals reached 80 cars. From this point movement began to slack off and within two weeks the season was practically over except for small movement from extremely late acreages. Total shipments through June 30 were 2883 cars, less than half the shipment in 1939.