ii8 Bulletin 153. 



agent. How often we grow the fruit, but miss the market ! 



These facts respecting the two classes of products and mar- 

 kets are, it seems to me, the most imperative lessons for the 

 American fruit-grower now to learn. 

 3. The foreign market may be expected to increase. 



I have already outlined the reasons, as they appeal to me, 

 for the great development of fruit-growing in North America; 

 and therein are stated reasons why we can enter the European 

 markets. It only remains to add that the European consumers 

 desire our fruit. It is handsome, uniform, and much of it is 

 of excellent qualit}'. It is also well packed ; or, rather, that 

 which is not well packed does not reach the discriminating 

 consumer. The English are now well acquainted with our 

 apples, and fruit-buyers on the continent, particularly in Ger- 

 many, are learning to know them. The foreign market is 

 only iaivly opened : it is not 3'et supplied. Most persons with 

 whom I have talked in Europe believe that the European 

 fruit-growers cannot compete with the American in general- 

 market fruit and they are looking for a growing trade in 

 American produce ; and my own opinion is that they cannot 

 compete with us in apples, and probabl}^ not even in pears and 

 some other fruits. But as exportation increases the more dis- 

 criminating the foreign market will become. Greater and 

 greater attention must be given to packing and grading, selec- 

 tion of varieties, and particularly to good tillage, thinning and 

 spraying ; for spraying gives a better keeping as well as a 

 sounder fruit. 



A person connected wnth an experiment station is often asked 

 if he w^ould advise the planting of more fruit. The question is 

 one which pertains to business and is therefore not wnthin the 

 purview of the experimenter ; and the success of anj^ venture is 

 intimateh' associated with the personalit}^ of its promoter. Yet, 

 one can form some notion as to whether fruit-growing is over- 

 done, or whether there is still opportunity for expansion. Now, 

 every business is overdone in its common levels. There is com- 

 petition every W' here. The success of a business, therefore, 

 depends more upon the man than upon the business. The first 

 advice, therefore, is to choose the business which one likes best. 



