DlB—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 16,1980
New melons, cukes
DOVER, Del. - A number
of new melon and cucumber
varieties show good promise
for commercial vegetable
growers.
Mike Orzolek, University
of Delaware extension
vegetable specialist,
reported on some of these
new hybrids during the
recent annual meeting of the
Delaware Vegetable
Growers Association in
Dover.
Among cantaloupes which
have performed well in
variety trials at the
University’s Georgetown
Substation is one line that
goes by the designation XP
-771. Similar to ‘Gold Star’, he
said it has good disease
resistance and is a good
shipper. They’ve been
testing it at Georgetown for
the past four or five years.
It’s not scheduled for
release by the breeder in
1981.
Another cantaloupe that
looks good for Delaware
growers is a line called
GQVW. This has better
mildew resistance than
‘Gold Star’ and produces
similar fruit.
For roadside marketing,
‘Supreme Delight’ looks
good. This lope has medium
Eastern figures CNI proposal
could
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -
Dairy fanners supplying the
New York-New Jersey
market could lose $l7O
million a year, nearly $lO,OOO
per producer, under a
pricing scheme being
studied by the Federal
government. Its adoption
could cost rural economies
in this area alone more than
a half billion dollars an
nually.
Businesses and local
governments serving these
communities would be
seriously affected. The rural
economies throughout the
Northeast, where dairy
fanning is the predominant
agricultural industry, would
be seriously depressed.
These are among the
comments by Joseph C.
Mathis, of Manlius, New
York, a nationally known
dauy marketing economist,
at a hearing of the U.S.
House of Representatives’
Subcommittee on Dairy and
Poultry, in Binghamton,
New York, on February 4,
1980.
Mathis is the Manager of
Economics and Research for
the 4000-member Eastern
Milk Producers Cooperative
Association, headquartered
in Syracuse, New York
His warnings were aimed
at a proposal being pressed
on the U S Department of
Agriculture by the Com
munity Nutrition Institute of
Washington, D C
The CNI is asking that
reconstituted fluid milk
products be exempt from
government price
regulations even though they
compete directly with
regulated dairy products in
the marketplace Recon
stituted dairy products are
made by mixing powdered
skim milk with water, and in
some cases a form of fat, to
mildew resistance and
comes on a little later than
‘Gold Star’. It’s not a good
shipper.
One of the most unusual
melons undergoing testing at
Georgetown right now is a
variety called ‘Green Pearl’.
Developed in Japan, it looks
like a cantaloupe until you
cut it open. But the sweet,
jucky flesh inside is green
likeahoneydew.
This is a very late variety
but has good disease
resistance. Set out the first
of May as a transplant, it
should be ready for early
August harvest on plastic,
said Orzolek.
Performance trials on
watermelons also show some
promising new hybrids for
area producers.
One of these is a new
Florida release called
‘Dudelee’. This produces an
oblong, 20 to 30 pound striped
melon which comes on later
than ‘Charleston Gray’ or
‘Crimson Sweet’. It has
excellent red flesh and is 15
to 20 percent sweeter than
other watermelons.
Seed currently is available
to commercial growers from
the Florida Foundation Seed
Producers, Inc., Box 14006,
University Station,
Gainesville, Fla. 32604.
cost $lO,OOO per farm
produce fluid skim, low-fat
or whole milk products.
Mathis explained that
adoption of the CNI proposal
would result in the in
tolerable competitive
inequities among milk
dealers which could cause
the current price structure
to collapse.
Such an event likely would
necessitate the termination
of the Federal order
program that has main
tained orderly marketing
conditions in the dairy in
dustry and has assured
adequate supplies of fresh
dairy products for con
sumers for the past 40 years.
As dairy farm resources
shift away from the Nor
theast and Southeast, the
dairy product needs of the
major population centers
along the Eastern seaboard
would become dependent
upon production areas in the
Upper Midwest. The tran
sportation of supplies over
such long distances not only
would waste precious
energy, but consumers here
likely would be left with
products of lower nutrient
value at higher prices.
Mathis congratulated the
Congress for assuring dairy
farmers of at least 80 per
cent of parity price supports
for the next two years. He
indicated that their action
would provide milk
producers with the financial
security and economic in
centive to produce adequate
supplies of milk to meet
current and future needs of
consumers.
Even so, milk prices paid
to farmers in this region are
expected to increase only
about 8 5 percent this year,
compared to an anticipated
inflation rate of about 12
percent in the costs of
production
top commercial list
The specialist recom
mended trying a small
planting this year to see how
you like it. The melon has
good shipping qualities and
could fit well into a shipping
program.
Another good performer at
Georgetown last summer
was ‘Mirage’, a crimson
sweet class melon. ‘Blue
Belle’ is a sugar baby class
that looks good. It has about
the same maturity as ‘Sugar
Baby’ but produces slightly
larger fruit.
Moving on to another
cucurbit crop cucumbers
Orzolek reported on
several new slicers. ‘Market
More 76’ has better disease
resistant than its
predecessor ‘Market More
70’. It also comes on a little
later.
‘Pacer’ and ‘Southern Set’
also look good. Though not a
very heavy yielder,
‘Southern Set’ produces
excellent fruit. The
specialist also recom
mended ‘Poinsett 76’, a
sheer that’s a bit later than
‘Market More 70’.
Reporting on results of
cultural studies on curcurbit
crops at the Delaware
Substation, he said the
biggest difference in yields
Turning to the need for
strong cooperative
associations, Mathis noted
that agricultural
cooperatives provide the
only legal means through
which individual family
farmers can attain coun
tervailing bargaining power
against the overwhelming
concentration of market
power held by the buyers of
their products.
Any recommendations
which would seriously un
dermine the market power
of cooperatives, as ad
vocated by some, while
doing nothing about market
power elsewhere in the
economy would place far
mers at a serious com
petitive disadvantage and
would lower their returns to
labor and capital.
To date. Congress wisely
has rejected such recom
mendations, noted Mathis.
Eastern Milk Producers
Cooperative also is deeply
concerned about the growing
threat posed to both the
dairy industry and con
sumers by the growth of
fabricated imitations of
dairy products and the
unrestricted importation of
casein which is finding its
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Read Futures Markets on Page 3.
came with the use of mulch.
This unproved fruit size as
well as flavor and yield per
acre. In most years, he said,
a plastic mulch will pay.
Another cultural practice
that paid off last year at
Georgetown was narrower
row spacing for water
melons. When they went
from a 7-foot row to a 3.5-foot
row they got much quicker
vine running and row cover,
with fewer weeds.
The closer spacing didn’t
boost yields an it did produce
slightly smaller fruits, but
the advantage in reduced
herbicide use especially
on watermelons appeared
to outweigh these disad
dvantages.
The system gives excellent
control of broadleaf weeds.
Noting some cultural
problems related to last
summer’s wet weather,
Orzolek also had some ad
vice for people growing the
‘Summet’ variety of can
taloupe. With all the rain
there was a problem of
cracking and splitting with
this lope, but he still feels it’s
worth growing.
Just be sure to grow it on
well-drained soil, he said; or
on ridges, if you’re using
plastic mulch.
way uttu the nation’s food
supplies, he said.
Mathis noted proper
labeling regulations must be
instituted to protect con
sumers from outright fraud
and to assure the economic
viability of the nation’s dairy
industry.
Finally, he said in the
event fuel rationing or
allocation programs are
instituted, the farm and food
processing sectors must
receive priority use if
consumers are to continue to
enjoy an adequate supply of
food at affordable prices.
Dairy agriculture in the
Northeast, as in the nation as
a whole, is a paramount
industry of vital importance
to the public welfare.
In the 10 states that
comprise this region, some
50,000 farmers produced 23.8
billion pounds of milk last
year (about 20 percent of the
nation’s supply) having a
cash receipt value of more
than $2.5 billion. This added
more than $7.7 billion to the
rural economies of this
region.
Farm cash receipts from
dairy products represent
about 42 percent of those for
all agricultural products
produced in the Northeast.
See your nearest
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Dependable Service:
Airville. PA
Airville Farm Service
Airville, PA
717-862-3358
Alexandria. PA
c ' _ Paul Shovers, Inc
SaKte Loysville, PA
WMffiMKS , 717-789-3117
Lynnport, PA
Annville, PA
BH M Farm Equipment, Inc * ermt * £' stler - lnc
r n i Lynnport, PA
717-867-2211 215-298-3270
BeavertowaPA McEwensvilfe, PA
Ben H Walter
Beavertown, PA
717-658-7024
Bernville. PA
StanleyA Klopp, Inc
Bernville, PA
215-488-1510
Bigterville, PA
Nelson Farm Supply, Inc
Biglerville, PA
717-677-8144
Carlisle. PA
PaulShovers, Inc
35 East Willow Street
717-243-2686
Catawitsa. PA
Abracziriskas Farm
Equipment, Inc
R.D 1
717-356-2323
Chambersburn. PA
Clugston Implement, Inc
RD 1
717-263-4103
Chester Springs. PA
Nevm N Myer & Sons, Inc
Chester Springs, PA
215-827-7414
Davklsburg.PA
George N Gross, Inc
R.D 2, Dover, PA
717-292-1673
Elizabethtown, PA
Messick Farm
Equipment, Inc
Rt 283 - Rheem’s Exit
717-367-1319
Gettysburg, PA
Ymglmg Implements
RD 9
717-359-4848
Halifax. PA
Sweigard Bros
R D 3, Box 13
196-3414
Hanover. PA
Sheets Bros, Inc
Carlisle Street
717-632-3660
Honey Brook. PA
Dependable Motor Co
East Main Street
215-273-3131
215-273 3737
Honey Grove. PA
Norman D Clark & Son, inc
Honey Grove, PA
717-734-3582
Hughesville, PA
Farnsworth Farm
Supplies, Inc
103 Cemetery Street
717-584-2106
Lancaster. PA
L H Brubaker, Inc
350 Strasburg Pike
717-397 5179
Lebanon. PA
Evergreen Tractor Co , Inc
30 Evergreen Road
717 272 4641
Lititz. PA
Roy A Brubaker
700 Woodcrest Avenue
717-626-7766
Loysville, PA
Don’s Service Shop *
Box 97
717-538-1362
Mill Hall. PA
Paul A Dotterer
RD 1
717-726-3471
New Holland. PA
ABC Groff, Inc
HD South Railroad
717-354-4191
Oley, PA
A J Noss & Son, Inc
RD2
215-987-6257
Orwigsburg, PA
Paul J. Eichert & Son
RD 1
717-943-2304
Palm. PA
Wentz Farm Supplies, Inc
Rt 29
215-679-7164
Pitman. PA
Marlin W Schreffler
Pitman, PA
717-648-1120
Quarryville, PA
C E Wiley & Son, Inc
101 South Lime Street
717-786-2895
Reedsville, PA
Big Valley Sales & Service,
Inc
PO Box 543
717-667-3944
Rmgtown, PA
Rmgtown Farm Equipment
Rmgtown, PA
717-889-3184
Silverdale. PA
I G's Ag Sales
Box 149
215 257-5135
Tamaqua. PA
Charles S Snyder, Inc
RD 3
717-386-5945
West Chester. PA
M S Yearsley & Son
114 116 East Market Street
215 696-2990
West Grove. PA
S G Lewis & Son, Inc
RD 2, Box 66
215 869-2214
Churchvilfe. MD
Walter G Coale, Inc
2849-53 Churchville Rd
301-734-7722
Rising Sun, MD
Ag -Ind Equipment Co , Inc
R D 2, Route 273 East
301 398-6132
301 658-5568
Woodstown. NJ
Owen Supply Co
Broad Street & East Avenue
609 769 0308