WINTER MEETING. 255 



however, who were able fmanclally, held on to the business, because 

 at that time there was nothing else to go to. The gold fever had sub- 

 sided, cattle and sheep had exhausted the pastures, and wheat had 

 ceased to be a paying crop. Here this same question stared them in 

 the face, and necessity, the mother of invention came, to the rescue. 



They said we must uaderstand each other better, " we must grow 

 our fruit better," " we must learn how to handle it better," "grade it 

 better," " pack it better," and we must appeal to the transportation 

 companies for quicker, surer and cheaper rates to the market. One 

 man or woman could not do all this alone. It was necessary that all 

 should take a hand, and all were willing because they had come to see 

 the necessity that something must be done. Taey realized that their 

 climate, soil and other conditions were most favorable for the produc- 

 tion of fruit, and that was about all the thing they could do at that 

 time that would return them any profit. The final result was a thorough 

 organization and cooperperation, and now hundreds and thousands of 

 cars of fruits are sent from the Pacific coast to all parts of the United 

 States and to many foreign countries. 



Xow, allow me to ask another question and suggest an answer : 

 Where are we fruit-growers of Missouri and the other middle-western 

 states ? We are just at that point on the road to success or failure, 

 where the fruit-growers of the Pacific coast were when'the mother of 

 invention came to their rescue. We have come to the place where the 

 road forks, the one is dim, crooked and full of obstructions, the other 

 is broad, straight and smooth ; the one may lead us to success, but the 

 other will take us straight to failure. It will require much effort on 

 our part to follow the one, but to go the other will be easy sailing. 



What the people of the Pacific coast have done was not accom- 

 plished in a day or a year, nor without many sad failures and discour. 

 agements, but it has taken long years of work and worry, and meeting 

 and discussing, and planning and resolving, and that by some of the 

 brightest minds, and yet they do not claim that their system is perfect, 

 but so much so that their business is fairly remunerative. Their pro- 

 ducts are known in most of the markets of the world and are always 

 in good demand at fair prices. 



Now, I do not claim that we can do just as they have done, nor 

 do I wish to discourage any of our Missouri fruit-growers. I have said 

 that organization and co-operation gave them success. May it not do 

 the same for us if we go rightly at it? We have tried and failed. Did 

 they not do the same many times ? It is true, conditions and surround- 

 ings are not the same, but it is true also that we have many advantages 

 over them. In the first place we are at least four days nearer the 



