Winter Meeting. 163 



It is also a source of pleasure to know that we are giving employ- 

 ment to more people than if our land were in grass. Then think how 

 many dear little children will be made happy by the red Ben Davis 

 apples grown in an orchard of 100 acres. 



jSTow comes glory, for, if we have the best commercial orchard in 

 our county and care for it as we should, we are known by every man 

 in the county and looked upon as a public benefactor. 



Another grand thing comes to us all after cultivation, gathering 

 and marketing — sober men and boys. I have been a member of this 

 society for eleven years and have attended nearly every meeting, and I 

 have yet the first member to see intoxicated. In fact, it is a rare thing 

 to so much as smell whiskev. Kow, can as much be said of our sister 

 societies ? I fear not. 



Another joy comes in having all kinds of fruits, especially winter 

 apples, for our families. 



I have merely mentioned the money part, but must not pass it by, 

 for without it somewhere along the way a commercial orchard would be 

 a grand failure. Satisfactory returns come often enough to encourage 

 us to go on. I am sure if we can figure out as good a profit in the 

 apple crop in the past five years as in the wheat and corn we can hope 

 for better in the next five years. 



I set an apple orchard in the fall of 1888. The fall of 1895 I 

 sold fruit to amount of $600.00 ; the fall of 1896, sold $1,800.00 worth ; 

 the fall of 1897, sold $3,000.00 worth; the fall of 1898, sold $500.00 

 Avorth of peaches and pears and my apples failed entirely. The fall 

 of 1899, sold $1,200.00 worth of apples, and I would be ashamed to 

 tell this audience what I expect to get for my crop in 1900. 



Aften dinner comes a nice dessert, so after cultivaiton, gathering 

 and marketing come — the good things of the orchard. 



