102 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



people because he made so many of them," and the great body of the 

 people in this country to which this title will apply are the ones we 

 must depend upon to consume the greater part of our apples, and an 

 price and quality are factors, effecting the sale, we must consider, 

 how best they can be brought about. 



In conversation with my friend Mr. C. G.. Marshall, of your state, 

 along this line, he advanced an idea tentatively as follows, "Establish- 

 ing on the part of the fruit growers, association central selling points, 

 such as Lincoln and Omaha, where the great common people could 

 buy any quantity and I may add quality, they might desire from a 

 nickle's worth to a car load." After having this conversation and 

 after having this question assigned to me, the conversation came to 

 my mind, and impressed me as one having the germ of the idea, 

 ] will add further that a somewhat extensive observation has con- 

 vinced me that in every considerable town, can be found a live, wide 

 awake merchant who by proper inducements might become a co-worker. 

 Of course, it is apparent these plans are expected to eliminate the "Leak 

 that sinks the ship," or the almost restrictive price asked the con- 

 sumer, and one entirely out of proportion to the amount received 

 by the producer. The question of the survival of the fittest, is daily 

 becoming more paramount, and the growing and selling of apples is 

 \itally affected by this question. The "fittest" will be those using 

 care in the handling of their orchards, pruning and spraying, also 

 attractive packing, but do not think I wish to appear as an advocate 

 of the afore-mentioned Italian's methods. 



In the December number of the American Magazine, is an article 

 entitled, "A New Cure for Drink" the author of which was a saloon 

 keeper for twenty years standing, who, although a tetotaler, as are 

 also his two grown sons, attributes this fact to their practice of eat- 

 ing freely of all varieties of fruit, especially the apple, and says fur- 

 ther as a general rule, with rare exceptions, a regular consumer of 

 fruit was not a very good customer, while on the other hand, a 

 typical booze fighter seldom touched fruit. My observation confirms 

 the above theory to a considerable extent. Reasoning from this, why 

 could not the Temperance advocate be made an efficient instrument 

 to help solve the problem by adding a Grimes Golden or Jonathan 

 apple to his other weapons and hurl them, figuratively of course, at 

 the head of the — or perhaps I should say mouths of his hearers, 

 thereby killing two birds with one stone, and that stone an appie. 



In conclusion will say the necessity of producing good fruit and 

 placing the same in hands of the consumer with a minimum of 

 expense in general terms seems to me to partially answer the 

 ouestions, and leaving the details to be worked out a'ong practical 

 lines, conscious of offering only a slight and at best a purely tenativo 

 solution of this much talked of and vexed question will bring these 

 remarks to a close. 



