TWENTY FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING. 163 



Davis center, too. The big Ben Davis orchards are southwest, and this 

 fall an entirely new phase of the market came, with buyers hunting for 

 Baldwin, Greening, Snow, Spy, anything of that character that comes 

 from Michigan, New York, or Canada; the consignees and commission 

 men pushing Ben Davis and extolling them, and the buyers saying, ''if 

 we can't find Baldwins or Greenings at |3 or |6, we will take Ben Davis at 

 |2." That is a fact, and I think it is the beginning of a wave going back 

 on the Ben Davis. 



INDUCEMENTS TO FRUITGROWERS, WITH CONDITIONS OF 



SUCCESS. 



BY MR. C. P. CHIDESTER OF BATTLE CREEK. 



Let me say to you that I believe fruitgrowing, when conducted 

 intelligently, is one of the most pleasant, as well as profitable, occupa- 

 tions in which one can engage; and it offers many inducements and 

 advantages over any other line of agricultural pursuit. When the disad- 

 vantages under which the fruitgrowers of other sections of the north- 

 west labor are compared with our own natural advantages, we can fully 

 appreciate the favorable conditions under which we live. Of course, 

 failures in fruit sometimes occur on account of conditions over which 

 man has no control. I think it will generally be conceded that Michigan 

 offers greater inducements to fruitgrowers, at the present time, than any 

 other state, when we take into consideration the peculiar location of 

 Michigan, surrounded as it is by the great lakes, whose mild influence is 

 noted by every fruitgrower; and that we have a soil and climate possess- 

 ing all the necessary qualities for the perfect development of fruit. 



When we take into consideration the great advantage Michigan has over 

 other competing states by being much nearer the great fruit-distributing 

 centers, the advantages of Michigan become still more apparent. An- 

 other advantage Michigan enjoys over most western states is, wind- 

 breaks can be successfully grown where orchard protection is found to 

 be necessary. We should remember that there is an immense territory 

 west and northwest of lake Michigan, to be supplied with fruit, and the 

 people of these western states will always look to Michigan for this sup- 

 ply, especially in apples, peaches, and grapes. 



Overproduction of fruit has been the prophecy for the last thirty years, 

 and yet the supply seldom equals the demand. Very few people realize 

 the vast amount of fruit it takes to supply seventy millions of people. I 

 am satisfied from my own experience, and by talking with many fruit 

 dealers, that underconsumption is much more likely to take place from 

 the fact that a large part of the laboring classes have not money in excess 

 of their actual wants with which to buy fruit. I am firmly impressed with 

 the belief that if the poorer classes could furnish themselves with the fruit 

 which is necessary for their comfort and health, overproduction would 

 not disturb the fruitgrowers for many years to come. 



