100 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Before he will turn a wheel he must know exactly what the cost of 

 ])rodnction will be, and the exact ])rice his ]>ro(lnct will sell for. 



The taritf must be properly adjusted ; there must be "gentlemen's 

 agreements," and secret trade combinations; every contract must con- 

 tain a "strike clause" and a "war clause," and in all cases ONE SET 

 OF MEN prodvre the article and ANOTHER SET OF MEN sell it, 

 Avhile the farmer and fruit-grower generally insists on playing the game 

 from every angle without any regard whatever to his qualitications. 



The average man has some difficulty in being an expert in more than 

 one line of endeavor. 



The man Avho plans his cro])s; plants, tills, fertilizes, si)rays, prunes, 

 thins, harvests and prepares them for market, at the same time run- 

 ning the gauntlet of germs. ])arasites and adverse climatic conditions 

 has done at least ONE MAN'S WORK, and he ought to have sense 

 enough to see that the sale and distribution of his product is ANOTHER 

 MAN'S WORK, and should be handled only by men who are experts 

 in that particular business. 



The production and the sale and distribution of the ])roducts of the 

 farm and orchard are two se]»arate and distinct propositions and call 

 for entirely different qualifications in the men who do the work. A 

 man may be the most successful grower of high grade fruit, but have no 

 ability at all as a salesman, and this is usually the case. It takes no 

 ability to accept the first offer that happens along; any fool can give 

 his property away. 



The man who jnits his whole time, thought and energy into the pro- 

 duction of a crop, has no time to study market conditions and trans- 

 portation and distribution i)roblems. 



When Benjamin Franklin told his fellow-signers of the Declaration 

 of Independence that they must hang together or they would surely 

 hang singly, he uttered a warning wliich seems pretty well suited to 

 present-day conditions confronting the farmers and fruit-growers of this 

 country. 



The old adage "In TTnicm there is Strength," Avas never more self- 

 evident than it is today; every other business in the country has adopt- 

 ed the plan of cond)ining interests, but the farmer and fruit-grower con- 

 tinues to permit himself to be used as a foot-ball, to be kicked about 

 by every conscienceless speculator that comes along; continues to go 

 through life asking two questions: "how much is it?" and "how much 

 Avill you give me?" — letting someone else set the price on everything 

 that he sells and everything that he buys. 



The individual grower is helpless in the battle of today. 

 . Methods that were good enough for (mr grandfathers will no longer 

 answer, — this is, a progressive age and times have changed. 



There are many things which the grower needs — things which are 

 vital to his success, but individually he can do little or nothing toward 

 their attainment. 



We need and must have better transportation facilities — a wider 

 distribution of our products to every nook and corner where they will 

 he appreciated and consumed, and better and saner legislation on all 

 matters affecting our business. 



