150 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



The end of the fruit story is the marketing of the product, a 

 part in which many of us are keenly interested. It forms the 

 climax of our tree-growing story. The money is the bait which 

 holds many to the industry. Perhaps you have heard the story 

 of the small colored boy down South. A man was walking 

 along the banks of a Texas river and he saw a young lad strug- 

 gling to rescue a boy who was in the water, struggling vigor- 

 ously. Finally he brought him to shore and landed him high 

 and dry. The .«^pectator came along and said, "Well, that was 

 a very brave deed, my boy. Was this your brother that you 

 saved?" And the boy said, "No, he wasn't my brother." 

 "Well, it must have been some one related." "No. he ain't no 

 relation of mine." "Well," he said, "that was a very brave act 

 of yours. Why did you do it?" "Why," said the boy, "we was 

 fishing, he fell asleep and rolled into the water wid de bait in 

 his pocket." The rescuer was after the bait. .\nd after all, no 

 matter how much pleasure we get out of fruit growing we must 

 keep an eye on the "bait," and it seems to me that we can culti- 

 vate the European market more diligently than we have been 

 doing. I found that there was very little American fruit con- 

 sumed by the common people. By the time it got to the common 

 people it was so high priced that it was out of their reach. The 

 important thing, it seems to me, after talking with the handlers 

 of fruit there, is to furnish a uniform grade. I believe that 

 grade is much more important at the present time than quality. 

 Ben Davis will go, or Keiffer pears will go, provided the fruit 

 is properly graded. So that from our standpoint we ought to 

 look to the grade. Let us keep up the quality of our fruit by 

 all means for our home market ; but let us grade carefully. We 

 do not grade as we ought to. This is the weakest point in the 

 marketing of our fruit. I was surprised, as I say, to find Keiffer 

 pears selling at good prices in Europe. I believe that in regions 

 where Keiffer pears are grown we need not be anxious about the 

 future of them. My own opinion is that there will be a good 

 market for this variety for some years to come. There is no 

 commercial fruit-growing in a large part of Europe. There will 

 be none for a long time to come. So it seems to me that 

 the American apple grower has a wonderful opportunity for 

 developing the European market if he works along legitimate 

 business-like lines. 



