84 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



Since then I have shipped him many boxes of apples and get 

 the same reply every time. I could have come right into these 

 markets here last fall, bought apples and shipped them to 

 Boston, and made good money. I don't understand why it is 

 that we can't get our price for good apples here. 



Mr. Bateman : I am willing to pay any reasonable price for 

 good apples, but I could not find good apples in the market here. 

 I have told the men to bring me good fruit and send me a 

 bill, for I am willing to pay a good price. But I cannot get 

 them here, and I know of hundreds of men who would be will- 

 ing to pay a good price, if they could get them. But it isn't 

 very pleasant for such people to be told that they are not willing 

 to pay the price, for we are willing, but we simply cannot get 

 the good apples and that is all there is to it. 



One evening this fall I received a call from an apple dealer, 

 saying that he had an order for a barrel of nice apples. He 

 said he wanted Northern Spies and asked if I could supply 

 these apples, and said for me to set my own price. I said, 

 "Will $5 be too much?" and he said that he did not care what 

 was the price, but he wanted good apples. I sent them and got 

 my price. 



Mr. Bateman : And I have been paying $6 for the same 

 kind of apples that you preferred to sell to the other man. 



Now there are some men who would have put into that barrel 

 something that ought not to be there, but you can not do busi- 

 ness in this way. Give them an honest pack and you will get 

 another order. Whether your apples are in barrel or in box, 

 you must bear that in mind. 



Qi'EsTiON : Do you thin your apples in order to get the 

 quality ? 



Mr. Conant: There are some kinds that should be thinned 

 in order to get the quality. We have not done much of that but 

 we shall have to do a good deal more in years to come. 



Maine produces good apples and enough of them, but we have 

 got to put out a good brand so that the people, when they buy 

 that fruit, will know that they are getting just what they are 

 paying for, and they will know to what association they can 

 send to get another box like them. But there are many people 

 that are a little dishonest and cannot be depended upon. 



