THIRTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT. 



121 



1880. 



1881. 



1882. 



1883. 



1884. 



1885. 



1886. 



1887. 



1888. 



1889. 



1890 



1891. 



1892. 



1893. 



1894. 



1895. 



1896. 



1897. 



1898. 



1899. 



1900. 



1901. 



1902. 



1903. 



1904. 



1905. 



Baldwin, 

 per bbl. 



$1.55 

 3.50 

 3.50 

 3.94 

 2.05 

 1.80 

 2.75 

 2.50 

 1.46 



4.40 

 1.95 

 2.60 

 4.00 

 2.75 

 2.35 

 1.30 

 3.10 

 3.70 

 2.70 

 2.25 

 4.75 

 2.30 



2.05 

 3.50 



Bartlett, 



per bbl. 



$10.50 



6.00 



11.65 



5.87 



6.66 



4.00 



8.50 



4.25 



7.00 



"'9.60' 

 3.37 



'"4.37 

 4.12 

 3.92 

 4.50 

 3.00 

 4.12 

 3.58 

 3.16 

 3.83 



4.75 

 5.50 



Concord, 

 pe^ lb. 

 cents. 



4i 



Sh 



3i 



3 

 2 

 2 



Quince, 



per bbl. 



$5.00 



6.00 



5.00 



4.25 

 9.00 

 4.50 

 2.13 

 5.00 

 6.00 

 2.25 

 4.00 

 3.25 

 3.62 

 4.25 

 2.00 

 3.00 



21 



2i 



3.50 

 3.00 



3.87 



3i 



6.00 

 3.87 

 4.50 



The average price received for Baldwin apples from 1880 to 1895 was $2.77 as compared 

 with $2.80, the average from 1895 to 1905; for Bartlett pears, $6.56 as compared 

 with $4.04; for Concord grapes, 4c as compared with 21c; for fancy quinces, $4.61 as com- 

 pared with $3.78. 



The fruit grower of today need not view this descending scale of prices for some fruit 

 with alarm. Reduced prices have been met, and probably will continue to be met for 

 some time to come, by a low^er cost of production, so that the profits may still be as large 

 as in earlier years, though the prices received are smaller. But it is evident that he must 

 look forward to the time when fruit growing will be profitable only to the man who can 

 put superior fruit on the market at a very low cost of production. This means congenial 

 climate, favorable soil, varieties that are perfectly adapted to the climate and soil con- 

 ditions and to the demands of the market, and skill in all the details of culture and mar- 

 keting. In every trade and industry the man who can produce the goods a trifle cheaper 

 than his competitor has a tremendous advantage over them. So it is in fruit growing. 



There are, of course, other things to be considered besides the ability to produce fruit 

 cheaply; nearness to a good market, for example, may be worth more to the grower than 

 a low cost of production. But it is undeniable that there is increasing necessity for the 

 fruit grower to figure on the cost of production as accurately as he can, and to reduce 

 it to the lowest point consistent with market returns. It is not possible for him to es- 

 timate the cost of producing his articles with anything like the accuracy of the manu- 

 facturer. The raw materials of the fruitgrower are sunlight, air, water, soil, and these 

 are manufactured into fruit under such varying conditions that it is impossible to assign 

 values and predict results accurately. But a fairly reliable estimate can be made, and 

 I urge the necessity for such a calculation in view of the increasing competition in the 

 fruit business. 



COST OF LAND. 



The main items which enter into the cost of production in fruit growing are land, cap- 

 ital and labor. When the fruit grower buys land, he is really buying its fertility, or its 

 power to produce crops. He is buying nitrogen, potash and other plant foods, soil water, 

 soil texture, the heat and light shed upon that soil by the sun. He is buying, not mere 

 dirt, but all the energies and forces above the soil, as well as in it, that are needed to trans- 

 form or manufacture plant food into apples, peaches, strawberries. The value of dif- 

 ferent soils as fruit factories varies greatly; the fruit grower learns that this often depends 

 fully as much upon their texture as upon their chemical composition. He learns, more- 

 over, that while man can do much to improve poor soils, and so increase their productiv- 

 16 



