110 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



good salary. Most usually foremen are employed who will go into the 

 fruit orchards of the growers, and these growers will have nothing 

 whatever to say as to what shall or what shall not be packed. The fruit 

 will be graded, and the good stuif will go into boxes or barrels, and 

 labeled with the OAvner's name, and that fruit will bring the price as 

 has been shown by the returns that have come to those who do so pack 

 their fruit. What can that superintendent do? In the first place, he 

 can not onl^^ look after the packing of the fruit, but he can be a reliable 

 source of information for that locality as to market conditions, and 

 then not wait until the market is ready for the fruit, but find a market 

 for that fruit. For instance, after all the apples had been shipped from 

 Fenuville I had inquiries, and could have shipped four car loads to 

 Iowa points after the fruit was moved. If a person had been a super- 

 intendent in that locality he could have Avorked up these markets. 

 This year he could have found that there was not enough good fruit in 

 Iowa, and could have located and could have sent car loads of guar- 

 anteed apples at the market price, and the result would have been that 

 a market would easily be had for the fruit. This superintendent can 

 also look after the matter of supphing the packages. Then, another 

 thing, buying the spraying materials in some localities; buying spraying 

 machinery, saving 30 per cent on most power sprayers. He can be 

 general agent of these localities. In addition to this, he could employ 

 competent foremen who have no interest in the fruit of which they are 

 to boss the packing. 



The man having apples to pack under the direction of a foreman, that 

 foreman will boss the job of packing, he will see that the fruit is 

 gathered properly, packed as it should be according to grade, and the 

 result will be that it will go on the market in the best possible condi- 

 tion; then in addition to that he will see to it that a copyright label is 

 adopted, for this should be done if it is desired to create a name, and 

 whatever this label or name is to be, it must be one that will attract 

 attention. Mr. Morrill took a "Hoodoo" melon, gave it a name that 

 was attractive, and sold it all right. So you see there is something in a 

 name. "Hearts of Gold" placed on a handsome label pasted on the 

 packages containing these melons sold them in the market where before 

 they Avere a drug on the market. In Chicago they brought double the 

 price that they did before. 



The plan in Fennville is to have one shipping point in four townships. 

 All of this fruit will be packed under one general superintendent. The 

 matter of marketing can be largely done by this superintendent. 



In addition to this question of box or barrel packing of fruit, there 

 comes also to the oflBce of the secretary this question, "Are you not afraid 

 we Avill raise too much fruit?" You know the answer to that. Why is 

 it that people are buying bananas and oranges and lemons and even 

 persimmons — the grocer knows that if he buys a box of lemons or a 

 box of vegetables from an organized section, there will be so many in 

 a box; he knows that, barring accidents, these will be all right; he 

 knows that the fruit in the bottom of the package is just the same 

 as on top, and he can sell 'from the top of the box knowing that the 

 bottom will be just as good. But he knows that if he buys a barrel of 

 our apples, it is liable to be something different. A man who buys a 

 suspicious looking package, recognizes it as a sort of lottery and pays 



