A FEW OF THE PROBLEMS FOR MAINE FRUIT GROWERS. 67 



A FEW OF THE PROBLEMS FOR MAINE FRUIT 



GROWERS. 



By Hon. D. H. Knowlton, Secretary State Pomological Society, 



Farmington, Maine. 



When we were deluged with fruit in 1896, I told the Maine 

 fruit growers assembled at a meeting at Winthrop, that profit 

 in the future for fruit growing would result from two things, — 

 first, the production of varieties of fruit that are favorites in the 

 market ; second, such cultivation of the orchard as will produce 

 the most choice fruit at the least cost. To these must now be 

 added the marketing of the fruit. It was referred to then, it has 

 always been important, but now that we have the whole world to 

 compete with, it comes before us as one of the problems of suc- 

 cessful fruit growing. 



The other day I read this item in a New York paper : "Could 

 the California apples beat the New York fruit in this market if 

 the latter were packed and graded like the former? If so, why?" 

 Now this may not immediately concern Maine fruit growers very 

 much, as New York has never been regarded as a market for 

 Maine fruit ; but I think it does concern the future very much. 

 It is generally considered by all experts in fruit matters that 

 Maine and Eastern apples are superior in flavor to those grown 

 in the Pacific States. Last June I met one of the managers of the 

 Washington Exhibition at Buffalo. He was a native of Maine, 

 and one of the first things he said was, "Won't you give me a 

 Roxbury Russet? I haven't had a decent apple for nine years." 

 Just across the aisle the Washington tables were covered with 

 immense Ben Davis apples. They looked fine, but you may 

 judge what this man thought of them. This year many car- 

 loads of apples have come east, some for the eastern markets 

 and some for shipment to Europe. In New York City they are 

 in many instances outselling the New York apples. In this case 

 the perfection of the packing sells the fruit. The fruit comes 

 carefully sorted, wrapped in paper, and packed in boxes. All 



