STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. lOI 



orchard for the past ten years, $95.60; add to this the $25 inter- 

 est on the investment and we have $120.60 net, or 24.12 per 

 cent as the annual ten year dividend from this orchard. 



In closing I must make several general statements. 



The first of these is that we have not been skimming the pan 

 in this orchard work, and the milk that is left is equally as good 

 as that we have taken. We shall expect this orchard, barring 

 accidents, to do as well, or rather better, during the next twenty 

 years than it has in the past ten. 



Secondly, as good or better dividends are coming from many 

 New York apple orchards similarly situated and similarly cared 

 for. The figures given are a fair average for a Baldwin orchard 

 in its fourth decade. The cost of production is, if anything, 

 high, since the state cannot do work as cheaply as an individual. 

 The extra cost, if such there be, has been offset, however, by 

 the skill and efficiency with which the superintendent, in direct 

 charge of the work, has managed every detail. 



Third, the profits of this orchard are probably many times 

 greater than those from the average plantation in New York. 

 Indeed, I suspect that if we had the financial history of every 

 apple tree in New York we would find that the total cost of all 

 quite equals the receipts from all — in other words, many are 

 losing and few are winning. This is the history of financial 

 endeavors in all industries. 



Fourth, and in conclusion, the dividend of 24.12 per cent on 

 an investment of $500 per acre stands for the opportunity in 

 the hands of the apple-growers of New York. It remains for 

 the individual to accept and make the most of the opportunity 

 or to neglect it. Ali Ha fed, a prince in India, sold his estate 

 to search for diamonds in foreign lands. His successor, water- 

 ing his camels in the garden, saw the gleam of gems and found 

 acres of diamonds, and Ali Hafed's estate became the Golconda 

 mines. Had the Indian prince had eyes to see he would have 

 had boundless wealth at home instead of poverty, starvation 

 and death in a foreign land. And so there are bonanzas in 

 growing apples right at hand for those who have eyes to see and 

 hands and brain to work. 



