lO AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



appreciation and my understanding of the fruit grower has 

 considerably enlarged during the past few years and 1 have 

 come to look upon him as a tremendously important factor in 

 the development of the agricultural interests of our state. I 

 would like to bring perhaps more definitely from my notes than 

 I could speaking extemporaneously, my impression of the mod- 

 ern fruit grower. 



The modern fruit grower is progressive. He adopts new 

 ideals readily. He keeps in touch with ihe results of experi- 

 ments conducted by the experiment stations, and therefore with 

 the up-to-date methods in fruit growing. He tests out the new 

 ideas on his own farm, and his knowledge and understanding 

 of the business enlarges correspondingly. The artistic tem- 

 perament of the farmer is developed and along with it his 

 appreciation of all that is best in all kinds and types of farms. 

 The reaction of fruit growing upon the farmer is therefore to 

 make him studious, thoughtful, appreciative and progressive, 

 and these qualities are reflected in his attitude toward education, 

 and especially toward agricultural education, toward scientific 

 investigation, business organization and management of the 

 farm, improved roads, co-operative buying and selling associa- 

 tions, and community spirit and pride. The reaction upon agri- 

 culture generally is educational, inspiring and elevating. 



But, my friends, the growing of fruit in abundance is not 

 enough to secure agricultural prosperity. The elimination of 

 waste in the production of fruit and the constant improvement 

 in quality even are not enough to guarantee a living profit to 

 the fruit-grower. Fruit once grown has to be sold. To do this 

 requires some machinery of distribution. And somehow that 

 machinery of distribution appears to most of us to be complex, 

 and at some points wasteful and even extravagant in operation. 

 It is well to note that this machinery is not operated by the man 

 who grows the fruit or by the person who consumes it. It is, 

 on the other hand, controlled by that person who has no other 

 interest in the industry except to take a price at every turn of 

 every wheel in the machinery of distribution. This fact is now 

 pretty well known. And I think it is only fair to state that the 

 distributor, or at least some distributors at some points in the 

 machinery of distribution, stand today indicted before the bar 

 of public opinion with the offence of wasteful methods in dis- 



