44 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE, 



that knocks the whole business out of line. If you have a 

 hail storm, or severe wind that blows off half your apples, why, 

 your estimate is going to miss the mark. But you have to bar 

 conditions of that kind. The plan would necessarily contem- 

 plate having the reports or estimates made by such experienced 

 men as that, and they have to be chosen by personal inquiry. 

 That is the only way you can find out. This orchard survey 

 that I have mentioned will furnish us the necessary informa- 

 tion to find those men. Now one other thing that I would like 

 to have your judgment on, in this connection, is the number of 

 reports that would be needed, in a county like Kennebec. It 

 was suggested to me by one of the dealers who has had a great 

 deal of experience in estimating the apple crop for the Inter- 

 national apple people, that perhaps twenty reports for a county, 

 such as Kennebec, would be closely representative. I wonder 

 what you think about that. Mr. Keyser, what is your judg- 

 ment ? 



Mr. Keyser: I am not in Kennebec. 



Mr. Sanders: Well, take Androscoggin. 



Mr. Keyser: Well, Androscoggin is pretty well scattered. 

 That would be plenty, I think. 



Mr. Sanders: You think twenty reports from that county 

 would be representative? 



Mr. Yeaton : There are twenty-six towns in Kennebec 

 county. Twenty would do very well. 



Mr. Sanders : I think perhaps I have taken already too 

 much of your time. These discussions that you have given — 

 while I presume they have not made very great progress — have 

 been helpful, and I certainly hope that you see some of the 

 difficulties that stand squarely in front of what we are trying 

 to do in regard to this apple crop. Now, Mr, Robinson has a 

 little story that illustrates another difficulty we have and I am 

 going to ask him to tell us about it. 



Mr. Robinson : In respect to the man who does not send 

 in his report. One day I offered one of my reports that I got 

 from the Government to this farmer orchardist. He said. 

 "V^here did you get that?" I said, "I get that every night 

 after supper. The five o'clock mail brings that to the box." 

 "Why," he says, "I don't get that." I said, "Didn't you get a 

 bulletin from the Government asking you to report on the crops 



