In the carly hours of each morn-dozens of sampans tie up at the' jetties along North Soochow Road, and ina few moments, a singsong goes up as coolles, working in groups of three or four and in bril-Hant unison, toss up one after another hundreds on hundreds of uscious water melons.
The water-melon, with hard green exterior and soft sweetness inside, believed to be especially beloved by the little "darkle" boys of the sou-then United States. But the consumption of every little nigger boy, each given permission (o eat as much '4g he could, could not hope to even approach the record number eaten in China, So popular is the watermelon that it is practically the national fruit of China, and at this time of the year thousands on thousands of the melons make their way to Shanghai and other large cities all over he country.
To the average foreigner, a watermelon is just a watermelon, and nothing more, something which one guts into large slices and which is ost eaten with the ears awash. But not so to the Chinese connoisseurs, who recognize four main types. First, there is the "north" melon, which cannot be eaten but forms an interesting ornament; second, the "south" melon, which is more like, 2 pumpkin or the squash; third, the "east" melon, which can' only' be eaten when cooked properly; and lastly, the sweet and luscious "west melon, which ripens in the summer and Is eaten raw. who "West? Mel The home of the "west" melon is at Hami, in Sinkiang, where the m famous and the best examples are grown, The Hami melons were favoured by the Empress Dowager. Transportation in those days was not the rapid thing it is today, and in order that the melons might arrive on the tables of the Summer Palace Peiping at just the right sage of ripeness, they were plucked while Still "green, 'To-day, these famous melons are no longer grown solely in Hami, sinkiang, for seeds have been planted in Tehchow, along the rail way lines of the' Tientsin-Pukow railway; and these are obtainable in Shang But with the advent of the watermelon come vital questions of public health, although thanks to the streng Vous efforts of the Public Health Department of the Shanghai Munlcipal Council the danger of conta mination and disease is no longer the great problem and scourge it once apanger" Fruit 'The larger portion of Shanghai watermelon supply, arrives in the city, uncontaminated, free of disease and' At for consumption, from the large watermelon fields of Soochow, Wusth and other districts around Shanghai. But on the arrival of the fruit in Shanghai, it becomes ex-pesed to duit, disease and fies, and at one time the word "melon" was almost synonymous with "cholera The danger comes when the fruit is sliced into large pieces and sold at much per slice—usually a fe1 coppers. The average working class Chinese, much as he delights in the fruit, 1 in no position to pay for 'a whole one, and hence the need for the fruit to be cut up. If it were not out, of course, the danger would not exist.
And this is where the Public Health. Department steps in, Inspec tors of the Department have a really duty time, running around making sure all such sileed fruit is kept under glass covers, and shielded from ust, dirt and flies; the most a vendor can" get away with is a fly-proof petting, and even then he is subjected to a very searching stare, Sprayed with Water The heat is responsible for another danger. Under the torrid glare of the sun and the rising temperature, the cut fruit starts to dry up before Jong and if not sold very soon re-Presents so much dead loss to the vendor. To protect his pocket, therefore, he starts to drench the fruit with water, the favourite method being to spray it with his mouth. Woe betide him, however, if he is caught at it by the keen-eyed health inspectors, for he is whisked off to the police station in a moment and his licence is taken away from him, The watermelon season is now at fits height, so much s0 that it might almost be called an orgy, for only three weeks remain in wiilch this king of the Chinese summer fruits may be safely eaten, according to Chinese superstition, August U-chin, or the Beginning of Autumn, fends the watermelon season, According to tradition handed down for centuries, the fruit may not be eaten after li-chfu or the gourmet will fall ill and might even die.
In late years, grown-ups have tended to relax the stringency of this
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.