JACK-O-LANTERN PUMPKINS FEWER, COSTLIER THIS YEAR

Farmer Martin McNitt is driving a truck these day.

McNitt and his wife Dolores operate McNitt Orchards, a farm off Route 127 near Murphysboro, Ill.

"We raise a lot of vegetables," said Dolores McNitt, "but our bread and butter crop is pumpkins...and there just aren't any pumpkins this year."

In a good year, the McNitts ship out more than 20 semi-tractor truck-loads of pumpkins.

"We didn't have one full truck-load this year," said Mrs. McNitt. "Martin obtained a job driving a truck for Bost Trucking Co. at Murphysboro."

Like many pumpkin growers throughout Illinois and Missouri, and the nation for that matter, the McNitts' pumpkin crop didn't withstand the summer's brutal heat and humidity.

As a result, Halloween jack-o-lanterns and Thanksgiving pumpkin pies will be more costly this year.

Along with the severe weather that caused pumpkin blooms to drop off the vine came a pumpkin virus, devastating much of the crop. Adding to the damage was last weekend's frost, which struck an already meager crop.

"A heavy frost would have been devastating at this point," said David Diebold of Diebold Orchard near Benton said. "Yields are already down."

Charles Voigt agreed.

"A lot of the pumpkin crop that did make it virtually got wiped out last weekend," said Voigt, a vegetable specialist with the University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service. "The frost wiped out the leaves, stopped the late-growing pumpkins and shortened any ability for the state to catch up."

Many growers say they'll be lucky to save 10 percent to 25 percent of their normal crop in Illinois.

Illinois, among the top five pumpkin-growing states, is not facing pumpkin hardships alone. The New York-based World Pumpkin Confederation says Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and other eastern states also have been hit hard.

Voigt said many growers had tough seasons, with lack of pollination and a virus.

Diebold points out, however, that the virus should not cause customers to worry.

"When we say they've got the virus, it's nothing contagious. The virus just affects pumpkins, not people," Diebold said. "The palatability and usability of the pumpkins are not affected."

Despite the light crop, Stanley Beggs of Pioneer Orchards in Jackson says, "We should have plenty for local people."

The pumpkins, said Beggs, are small but should be a nice size for jack-o-lanterns. His pumpkins are being sold at the market and in the orchard's pick-your-own field.

People looking for pumpkin should be braced for a bit of a sticker shock, added Voigt.

Wholesale prices for jack-o-lantern pumpkins already are approaching 20 cents a pound, more than double the typical amount.

Diebold, who raises several acres of pumpkins, said his crop was small and late.

"You look at the field and everything looks good," said Diebold. "The vines are healthy, but the pumpkins are just not there."

But there could be some good news among the bad.

"We have a lot of pumpkin growing on higher ground," Diebold said. "Last weekend's light frost didn't hurt these too much. We may still have more pumpkins as we approach Halloween."

Jack-o-lantern, or ornamental, pumpkins were a $3.25 million crop in Illinois in 1992, according to a federal and state survey. About 2,130 acres were planted in jack-o-lanterns, with each acre producing an average of 15 to 20 tons.

The jack-o-lantern pumpkins are usually larger than normal pumpkins, with a good orange color.

Gourd-like pumpkins specially grown for pies don't seem to have been as affected by last summer's hot weather. Diebold said the crop is good.

The champion pumpkin at a recent pumpkin festival reflects the 1995 ornamental crop. The winning entry of the "largest pumpkin" contest weighed 149 pounds, 450 pounds lighter than last year's 600-pound champion.