252 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



witli a binding guarantee, and then we will be able to drop out 

 western competition. We ought to spend some time in the markets 

 in which we expect to sell, studying the conditions, and become ac- 

 quainted with the man who handles apples, and study just what 

 kind of packages sell the best. We can pick up many useful facts. 



One of the things that keeps the price of apples down, is the plac- 

 ing on the market of poor, wormy apples, covered with fungus dis- 

 eases, and unfit for food. We must learn to utilize them at home by 

 working them up into applebutter, jelly, or in vinegar, whichever 

 will pay us about as much, and the market for our good fruit will be 

 much better, and more apples v/ill be consumed. 



In the West, Fruit Associations and Exchanges handle the bulk of 

 the crop, and have been very successful; one of the reasons is that the 

 apple production in the West is confined to small valleys, which has 

 made it much easier to form these Associations. Our conditions are 

 different, and it seems hard to get our Horticultural Societies to 

 take hold of this marketing end. Our production is scattered all 

 over this state; hardly a county but what has some large orchards. 

 Few counties have a large section devoted exclusively to fruit like in 

 the West, which makes it hard to get together. The fruit belt of 

 Adams county comes nearest to Western conditions, and we have 

 been looking for a number of years for our friends in the Adams 

 County Horticultural Society to take hold of this marketing ques- 

 tion. Why not? Bedford county formed a marketing association 

 some years ago: just how successful, I do not know. The plan seems 

 ideal and T believe the East must sooner or later adopt this plan. 

 AVe must organize just a little closer and learn to co-operate together 

 in order that we may get our share of the consumer's dollar. We 

 have every advantage. We have the soil and climatic conditions 

 whereby we may grow the very best apples in the whole world, and 

 we are at the very doors of the best markets. We must give our 

 marketing closer attention and we are bound to succeed. 



