FORTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT. 67 



the reuter hns established a profitable business with little cash outlay, 

 and has the j)Ieasnre of having enhanced the productivity of the leased 

 orchards and made them more valuable to the owner, the community 

 and himself. These are among the reasons why the practice of leasing 

 orchards has assumed such proportions in our State in the last few years. 



We should also give due credit to the horticultural department of 

 our agricultural college, and to Mr. Farrand and other pioneer orchard 

 rentere, who by their advice and example have done much to induce 

 those qualified to take u]> this excellent work of saving the orchards of 

 our State and placing ]NIichigan again in the front rank as a producer 

 of choice fruit. 



With these introductoi-^- remarks on the necessity for and growth of 

 the orchard leasing business I wish to treat the subject proper under 

 the following heads. 1. The parties to the transaction. II. The 

 orchard. III. The contract. IV. The flnancial" i)rosiject. Each of these 

 divisions will be considered from the stand})oints of both owner and 

 renter. Of the parties to the transaction Ave will first consider the renter. 



(1) First of all he should have ability. He must be familiar with 

 the principles of orchard operations, and able and willing to profit by 

 experience. 



(2) He should have a love for the work and a natural adaptability 

 to it. If the work is distasteful to him he will slight it, and orchard- 

 ing is no business for the careless man. 



(3) He should have time to attend to the work. The man who 

 leases orchards must not be tied down to other work too closely if he 

 would make a success in this line, for his operations must be performed 

 on time. 



(4) He must have energy. Orcharding is no vocation for the shirk. 



(5) He must have good equipment or sufiicient capital to procure 

 them. A power s]trayer is very desirable but a good hand pump will 

 answer for limited o])erations. Then he must have good pruning tools, 

 ladders, packages, team and Avagon, and sufficient capital to secure labor 

 until a crop is grown and marketed, which may not be the first season. 



(Ct) He must have ]flenty of faith and staying qualities and not be 

 discouraged at an ajjjiarent failure. Success conies in this Avork as in 

 any other by sticking right by the proposition. 



(7) He must be fair and lionet in his dealings, both with the owner 

 of the orchard and his customers, otherAvise he Avill sooner or later come 

 to grief. 



There are also a fcAv (pialities Avhich should be possessed by the owner 

 of the orchard. He should be reasonable and fair minded, otherwise it 

 Avill be difficult to make a fair bargain Avith him as he Avill be too exact- 

 ing and distrustful. He should also be honest and reliable. Avilling to 

 carry out to the letter any bargain he has made. An OAVuer who Avill 

 break as readilv as he Avill nuike an agreement should care for his. own 

 orchard. Furthermore, he should l>e careful and accommodating. Many 

 conditions Avill arise not exj)rcssly covered by the contract in Avhich 

 case each party should be ready and Avilling to do the fair thing. 



Let us noAv turn from the parties to the orchard in question. The 

 OAvner, of course, has no choice of orchards. If the orchard is of good 

 size and in good condition he is probably caring fpr it himself, lease 

 the orchard, the proposition is then up to the renter. 



