512 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Mr. Hutchins: Mrs. Hutchins canned and put up jelly and sent it to 

 the commission men, and a demand for it was created; thoroughly ripe 

 peaches may be pared by putting into scalding water, when the skin 

 comes off' readily. 



Mr. Morrill: I think if the farmers would can or dry their seconds it 

 would remove them from the market; yet Mr. Godfrey bought peaches at 

 35 cents up here and put up 3,000 cans and he found a slight loss and he 

 will can no more. 



Mr. W. A. Smith of Benton Harbor: I saw those peaches, and if he 

 lost many he ought to have lost them all. They were put in cold storage 

 and they were not fit to feed the hogs. If you wish to can peaches, you 

 must can the very best, and this will pay. California ships her best. 

 They were sold at Benton Harbor right under our noses, and while good to 

 look at they were not good to a man who knows what a peach is. There 

 are thousands in Chicago who can not purchase the best peaches, and they 

 want our second-clsss fruit and they should have it. 



Mr. Lewis: I think we should dry peaches green and pull them off the 

 tree as long as our consciences will permit. 



Mr. W. A. Taylor: The Olden Fruit Co. of Olden, Mo., have 900 acres 

 of fruit. The conditions are such that it pays them to can their seconds, 

 and they get 50 cents per bushel at the train, and they make it pay. The 

 canneries of the east began to can yellows peaches but it broke 

 the market; but when the later and better fruit came in they got better 

 prices. 



Mr. Morrill: The Olden Co. are a little better located than we are, 

 and grow remarkably good fruit. They are thorough business men and 

 they use largely their own fruit. They sell in the west and the fruit is 

 better than our seconds. All those old farmers out there have dryers for 

 their fruit. 



Mr. W. A. Taylor: I have a few specimens of the date from Fresno, 

 Cal., where it is hopeful the date can be successfully cultivated; also speci- 

 mens of pecans which are one half larger than the common sort. 



A paper by Mr. Morrill, " Is it desirable for the general fruitgrower 

 to raise small fruit?" was read, as follows: 



I do not feel that it is within my province to say what kinds of fruit, if any, it is 

 desirable for any man to grow, and hope my paper will not be construed as advice but 

 rather as an attempt to point out the conditions under which it may be profitable to 

 grow berries; also the conditions under which the venture would be a doubtful one. 



The topic suggests that it is intended to apply to men who are already engaged in 

 growing tree fruits, and the first question for such men to consider is, whether they 

 can give both crops proper attention at the proper time or not. If they can, that ques- 

 tion is settled; if they can not, then let it alone. The next point to be settled is the 

 adaptability of your soil to the crops which you intend to grow. You may have a good 

 strawberry soil. If so, it is most likely to be good for raspberries and gooseberries, but 

 may not be good for blackberries or currants; but there are soils which are well 

 adapted to each and all, including grapes as well. This can only be determined by 

 trial. 



If the question of soils proves satisfactory, you can then settle the most important 

 questions of all by a little investigation in another direction — that is, market and 

 transportation. If you are so situated that you have a good market within four or five 

 miles, you are fortunate, as you will not be at the mercy of transportation companies 

 or commission men. There are numerous cities and villages in this state that are very 

 poorly supplied with fresh fruit, some of them not at all, and in such a locality there is 

 always room for some enterprising man to plant a moderate acreage of berries and 

 make the business profitable, as fresh, home-grown berries, neatly put up, will always 

 be taken in preference to stale, shipped-in stock, and at better prices. If, on the other 



