68 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



better than the grower; the grower only estimates his own 

 orchard, while the buyer estimates hundreds of them every- 

 where. It is his business; he is more keen at it. Nine times 

 out of ten the orchard packs out many more barrels of apples 

 than the grower had estimated. Of course the buyer has to 

 take the chance of hail, windstorms, disease and other mis- 

 haps between the time he buys them and when they are ready 

 to be picked, and he makes big allowances for that in his price. 

 Selling on the trees, while it relieves the grower of a lot of 

 work, is a very unsatisfactory way of marketing apples; nine 

 times out of ten the grower does not get full value for his crop. 



Selling to a buyer f. o. b. shipping point is much better. The 

 disadvantage is that the grower often sells to a different buyer 

 every year and so does not acquire a reputation for his pack. 

 One crop does not help to sell another. This is one of the great 

 advantages of a cooperative selling organization. 



Consignment gives good results if you get in touch with a 

 good commission man and stay with him year after year. Most 

 of us do not do this. We sell to the apple speculator when 

 prices are good and buyers numerous, but the next year — as in 

 1914, when few buyers were around — we consign, because we 

 have no other way of handling it, and we get poor returns. I 

 have sold apples in all these ways; but the nearer I can come 

 to f. o. b. business the better off I am. I find it best to take a 

 fair price for apples in the fall at the packing shed rather than 

 to put them in storage or consign. The storage and selling of 

 apples is a business by itself, wholly apart and separate from 

 the business of growing apples. It is a field in which I confess 

 I have no ability myself, and I am willing to turn that whole 

 matter over to those who know how to do it. I would rather 

 take a smaller f. o. b. price in the fall than to take the chance 

 of getting a little more for them out of storage or from con- 

 signment. Sell as soon as you can get a fair price, then start 

 to raising next year's crop, is the way I feel about it. 



As I told you last night, the cost of production with me has 

 run about $1.15 a barrel. This is based on seven years' work. 

 You cannot get at the cost of producing apples from the returns 

 of one, two, or three years. My average net returns for seven 

 years have been $2.65. This may not seem large to you, but 

 remember that we are growing apples on a large scale for 



