Notes hij the Secretary. 77 



and size is the most prominent feature. How long it will be before 

 people's tastes will be educated up to this idea it is impossible to 

 state, many believing that it is the duty of the horticulturist to 

 grow only the best fruits and educate the masses up to the standard, 

 while others think we should supply what the market demands 

 without reference to any of our concern what they want. 



I suppose our market here at Kansas City is rather peculiar, 

 not for a Western city, but would be in comparison with an Eastern 

 city. Here we have buyers coming from the whole Western 

 country, the Southwestern country, Southern country and the 

 Northwestern country. 



Last fall, before we gathered our apples, I received numerous 

 letters from Nebraska and Iowa of the North, from Colorado and 

 the mountains of the West, and Kansas and Texas of the Southwest, 

 all wishmg to know where they could get good large red apples. 

 This is a type of what the market of Kansas City is expected to be. 

 Many of these parties I saw later, and it was impossible to make 

 them believe that they should take some of the other poorly colored 

 fruits with the bright colored ones. Yet we in every instance found 

 it impossible to convince them that a Jannett, a White Winter Pear- 

 main or Roman Stem (some of our best varieties in quality), should 

 be taken with the large Ben Davis and Willow Twig, Winesaps, 

 Jonathans and Red Streak. 



It is hard to convince a man against his own eyes and say what 

 we may we must pander to the beauty of an article and to the eye, 

 if we want a market fruit. It is not only so with fruits, but you 

 find it so in every walk of life, in every business, in every trade. 

 In the lumber business once I found this just the same as in 

 our markets of to-day. Take a pile of good lumber and have it 

 scattered promiscuously and you will hardly find a buyer ; but pile 

 it up nicely and ten chances to one if the next man will not make 

 his purchase from it. 



Our merchants in our stores know this matter perfectly and 

 they do not seek to educate the people up to a different standard, 

 but use this hold they have on people to pander to the eye. So you 

 will see the displays everywhere and every one of us will buy from 

 such an one, before the one who tries to convince us against our 

 sight. 



But one says we must keep growing better and more sensible 

 in this matter, and yet this very horticulturist will have his apples 

 in bright, new barrels with planed heads, and a nice stencil mark 

 on it ; he will have his berries in good new boxes, clean and not 



