40 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



Again, those who are consuming this fruit are rapidly in- 

 creasing. Apples are no longer a luxury but a necessity. And 

 let it be borne in mind that those to whom we must look to con- 

 sume the major part of our crop are not the people of wealth 

 who buy a dozen apples, or a box at a very high price, but the 

 rank and file, who are willing to pay a fair price for a good 

 article. 



Then too, the cold storage facilities that prevent the crop be- 

 ing put on the market within a limited time, and also the refrig- 

 erator cars which allow it to be distributed over a large range of 

 country, together with low ocean rates and excellent steamship 

 facilities are giving us new and better markets every year. 

 With these few suggestions I will now turn to the practical 

 points of my theme. 



VARIETIES. 



As to varieties, I never specialize except when near my own 

 home where I know exactly the condition, but I would say this : 

 Select those varieties — of which there are many — which are 

 known to do well in your locality; such as are strong, hardy 

 growers, with good foliage, plenty of bearing surface, other 

 things being equal ; annual rather than biennial bearers ; for the 

 most part red fruits, of good size, and good shippers. It is 

 well, too, to avoid those varieties with short, thick stems, that 

 must always be bad droppers. I would have as much of quality 

 as possible, but there must be a distinction made between varie- 

 ties for a commercial orchard and those for family use. To 

 illustrate : I grow the Jonathan and Spitzenberg. I want 

 nothing better in my cellar, but I no longer set them in the com- 

 mercial orchard. A Baldwin or Greening of the same age and 

 with the same treatment will produce nearly three times the 

 amount of fruit, and although the former varieties will bring 

 a higher price, the net return to the grower will be very much 

 less than from the last named varieties if they are adapted to 

 his conditions. 



I would avoid novelty. ]\Iany varieties are excellent in the 

 place where they originate, but taken into a new country, par- 

 ticularly a southern variety brought north, it is extremely 

 doubtful whether they will be profitable at all. Then, too, I 



