120 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE- 



ter of the tree from the tower of the machine. We would 

 throw up from the ground as far as we could. Since then I 

 have been able to get near my trees. 



I spoke of fertilizing and putting on thirteen tons of ashes. 

 This last spring I put on eighteen tons and only two tons of 

 bone and left out the nitrate of soda altogether; I think I did 

 better by putting on more of the potash and leaving out the 

 nitrate of soda, and perhaps the bone. 



What was the result of these four years' work? The first 

 year I harvested 835 barrels of good market apples; 1908, 11 50 

 barrels; 1909, a little over 1000; and this year there is something 

 over 800, though they have not all gone to market yet. In the 

 year 1907 the 835 barrels returned me a little over $2400 at my 

 station ; in 1908 I received a little over $2500 at my station ; last 

 year the looo barrels were all sold in Boston. Part of them were 

 sold in the fall soon after they were packed and the remainder 

 went into cold storage and were sold out in February and some 

 as late as the first of March. I realized something over $3000 

 for those. This year I can't tell you w^hat I will realize because 

 they are not nearly all sold, but I have established something 

 of a mail order system and more than 75% of my best apples 

 have gone in that way at a good price, so I am satisfied that even 

 at a smaller price for the poorer fruit which I have left I will 

 realize a great deal more than I have ever done before. 



I will say this, — that I should never have gone into this work 

 if my son had not taken an agricultural course at the New 

 Hampshire college. He is very much interested in the farm 

 work and realized from his studies. I suppose, that there was a. 

 great future in fruit for New England people ; he knew we had 

 those old trees and said so much that I went to work on them. 

 If any of you farmers have sons who want to go to college, 

 influence them to go to the agricultural college and take an agri- 

 cultural course, if you can. I tried to dissuade my son from 

 this before he went, but it was either go and take the agricul- 

 tural course in our State College or not go at all, and I think it 

 has been a good thing in that way. The western people are 

 doing all they can to advertise their western fruits in our mar- 

 kets. If our New England farmers would brace up and take 

 care of their old neglected orchards, there is no reason why they 

 should not have the same success that I have ; and there is plenty 



