786 ANNUAL, REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



Another impoilant questiou to the fruit grower is that of fruit 

 packages. It occurs to me there should be some system of unifor- 

 mity in the packages we use for marketing our fruit. I never saw 

 so many diiferent styles and sizes of packages as during the past 

 year. This causes misunderstanding on the part of sellers and 

 dealers, because quotations are often misleading. For peaches, I 

 think the 20-pound basket has come to say. They pack easily, are 

 convenient to handle and pack to great advantage on wagons or 

 cars. We can pack 200 on a 2-horse spring wagon, while only 80 of 

 the round or Delaware baskets can be put on same wagon. For 

 apples and pears I think barrels are best, but they are hard to get. 

 Bushel boxes are convenient to handle, but cost much more to pack, 

 as the fruit must be carefully arranged in layers and fitted up. 

 There is a limited demand for nice apples, wrapped in paper and 

 packed in boxes. If barrels are not available I would use Michigan 

 bushel baskets. 



For some frnits,cold storage is necessary and will prove profitable. 

 The question as to ownership of the cold storage buildings is an 

 important one. At present they are owned chiefly by dealers, but I 

 believe they should be owned by the growers on the co-operative 

 plan. Our leading winter apples here are York Imperial, Ben Davis, 

 Gano, York Stripe; and the question is do we need artificially cooled 

 houses to keep them? They usually hang late and keep well with- 

 out artificial storage. 



Closely connected with the storage question is that of marketing 

 our fruit. We can grow fall and early winter apples of better 

 quality and color than in New York, and our Spy, King and Bald- 

 win, can be gathered and marketed so as not to come in competition 

 with those grown in New York. 



In conclusion, I want to say that our Department of Agriculture 

 has given us a valuable assistant in Prof. Surface, and has also 

 given us substantial aid in other ways. This is very good and we 

 appreciate it highly, but our horticultural interests deserve and 

 should have more. We want to investigate further and find what 

 soils, altitude and conditions are best for different fruits and where 

 to find our best markets, so we may plant intelligently and reap the 

 highest possible rew'ard for our labor. Those investigations were 

 started 2 years ago, and if continued, thousands of acres of choice 

 fruit lands would be planted, and we would take rank as the lead- 

 ing fruit producing state in the Union. We have with us to-day 

 Mr. Critchfield, our Secretary of Agriculture, and I know his heart 

 is with us. I hope we may have the pleasure of hearing from him. 



