56 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



come to the time when the man who makes money in growing 

 apples is the man who can produce good fruit at a low cost. 

 With increasing competition, every business man endeavors to 

 cut out the wastes, to eUminate the unnecessary expenses, to 

 produce a good article at as low cost as possible. This is our 

 biggest problem, aside from that of marketing, which I shall 

 not discuss. The points I shall mention this afternoon have to do 

 mainly with means of growing good apples cheaply. 



Location. It is a great advantage to be located where you 

 can get your apples to market at a reasonable cost. This means 

 that you must have, if you can get it, competing means of 

 transportation. I am fortunate in having three competing rail- 

 roads within five miles of my orchard, and while I ship mostly 

 over one railroad, I am satisfied that the fact that there are 

 competitors keeps my rate reasonable. You have heard that 

 competition is the life of trade. Competition is also the chief 

 incentive to reasonable freight rates. In selecting a location it 

 will be a decided advantage not to be at the mercy of any one 

 means of transportation. 



The distance of the orchard from the shipping point, and the 

 character of the road, have much to do with the cost of pro- 

 duction. I showed you last night pictures of Virginia growers 

 hauling apples twenty miles over rough and hilly roads, paying 

 forty-five cents a barrel to put the apples at the depot. I am 

 located one-quarter of a mile from the depot, on an asphalt 

 road, and it costs less than two cents to put a barrel of apples 

 on the car. This is a big advantage. I could sell my apples 

 for $2.50 a barrel at the depot and make as much as this other 

 man if he sold for $3. An apple grower ought to be a good 

 roads man. We have had a quarter million dollar bond issue 

 which was used to macadamize the main roads of my district. 

 I now carry thirty-five barrels of apples on a two-horse load 

 to the depot over that good road ; formerly I carried about 

 fifteen. I save my increase in taxes on account of the bond 

 issue a great many times over every year on that one thing 

 alone. The fruit grower has such a bulky article to carry to 

 market that he should be a worker for good roads as a matter 

 of self-interest, if for no higher reason. 



The Site. The site of the orchard may influence the cost of 

 production. You know of the intense interest in the western 



