488 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



have had only about five inches of rain since the middle of August, 

 so that we have very little rainfall the past season. We are 

 trying to grow a good many apples down there that will ripen 

 through the summer and fall clear up to the winter time. We have 

 a wagon on the market nearly all summer and all fall. It pays to 

 sell apples in baskets and grade them up nicely. We try to grade 

 these early apples. We found that if we would put all of them to- 

 gether that they want to pay just about what one of these cull 

 oaskets is worth. Consequently, he best way is to put in nice 

 a,pples and have them just as nice as you can get them. For the 

 past two or three years, we have sold a great many of these apples at 

 $2.00 a bushel. Of course, they sold cheaper than that sometimes, 

 ^ome years they don't sell near that high. We cannot blame a per- 

 son then for setting out a few early varieties on his farm. I am 

 setting out more Jonathan and Grimes Golden of late years than 

 anything else as we have plenty of Eome Beauty. I don't believe 

 1 would like to plant an orchard of mixed varieties very much. 

 For instance, set out blocks one row of one kind, one row of another 

 kind, and so on. I believe in setting out a full block of a kind, or 

 not less than four rows of a kind. It is said by some people that 

 you get much better fertilization by having these varieties mixed 

 in that way and still 1 believe it is better to have more than one row 

 of a variety if you care to do that. I would make it four rows 

 anyway of one variety. The highest point on my farm is 350 feet 

 higher than the lowest point and not over one-fourth mile apart. 

 There will be a slope and then there will be a place nearly level 

 again. That's the way the hills are situated. On those banks a good 

 many of those apples will roll down to a level place and it doesn't 

 hurt the apples very seriously on the grass. If there were a good 

 many rocks, it would be different. I never saw a rockier place in 

 my life than I did coming over here. We picked the rocks up out of 

 our orchard very readily. 



In giving to those local markets, a person must learn to be a 

 salesman. It takes a man to learn the business and get acquainted 

 and let people know that you would like to do business with them, 

 etc. Now, it takes a man to be trained up. One man can go in 

 there and he will get twice as much out of his fruit as another man, 

 and I believe in training up the boys as they grow. Let them go in 

 there and learn it. I took up the business somewhat myself for a 

 good many years and I believe that if it is not too egotistical to say 

 it, I can do better than any man on my wagon. The man that is hon- 

 est has no trouble in getting plenty of trade and the man who is hon- 

 est in buying is honest with the man who is selling. They are will- 

 ing to pay you whatever you get for the rest of your fruit. We 

 have quite a good many grocers and fruit stands and have a good 

 trade among them all. We have a telephone running out to the farm 

 and they can call me up any time and give orders. When you have 

 got enough stuff you can go nearly every day. An occurrence hap- 

 pened down there last summer. A man took some potatoes to town. 

 He had them in a bushel crate and sold them to a Jew. The Jew 

 looked at them and found some small ones among them. He said, 

 "I want good potatoes. Take those small ones out." The farmer 

 picked the little potatoes out and still there was a bushel of large 

 potatoes. The Jew said, "pour the little potatoes back and I will 



