68 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



Question : In regard to storage under the conditions we 

 are working now, a great many men have to sell in the fall, and 

 what would be the rates on local storage. Would it not be 

 more satisfactory than the other method? 



Mr. Orcutt: That comes right back to whether you can 

 make country cold storage pay. You must have a local asso- 

 ciation. If you can get together and buikl it so it won't cost 

 a lot of money, or get together and put it up yourselves very 

 cheaply, it might. And another way is to let it out and have it 

 cost a lot of money. I understand it is a good scheme, but I 

 do not know much about it. In order to do this it is going to 

 take a lot of money and must be wisely spent. 



Question: How much support is it going to take? 



Mr. Orcutt : Apple dealers, I think, could buy and give 

 whatever they thought they could give. Perhaps it would be 

 $10,000. You can use a whole lot of money in advertising and 

 not have it bring back anything. You should place your money 

 where it will bring you returns. 



Question : How would this apply to the potato house ? 



Mr. Orcutt : I understand that down in Maine potatoes 

 are not selling very high. I know people get accustomed to 

 using so many potatoes and the price doesn't make so much 

 difference as }tdu think. Now, for instance, you take the potato 

 situation. The consumption of potatoes is falling off by the 

 working people from 25 to 40 per cent. Why is it? They are 

 not very good to eat raw, and it takes wood, coal or gas to 

 cook them, so the man cannot take a potato off very far for 

 his dinner. People buy meat, cheese and bread, for these they 

 can eat cold and it doesn't take money to use extra coal, wood 

 or gas. With the condition of business everybody should count 

 his dollars, so that is one reason they cut the potatoes down. 



Question : Do you think it is best to encourage the ordi- 

 nary growers to sell direct to the consumer? A man, we will 

 say, goes to a house and sells a bushel of apples without 

 knowing how to put a production on the market. Isn't this 

 apt to discourage the man from selling? 



Mr. Orcutt : Yes, in one way, still in another it is a good 

 way to sell them, for you are sure of getting your money. 

 Theoretically it is not a good way. You can go in and sell them 

 through a retail store, but the majority must go to the whole- 

 sale market. Just grade your apples into three qualities. I 



