104 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



"Yes," replied Saint Peter. 



"Well, I don't want any ordinary job — I want something big. Have 

 Mm anything big?. What is the biggest job von have?" 



"Well we need a leader for the choir." 



"That's all right if you can give me a big enough choir." 



"How many do you want?" 



"I want a million sopranos, a million altos, and five hundred thou- 

 sand tenors" and Roosevelt stopped. 



"How about the bass?" said Saint refer. 



"The bass?" said Roosevelt, "Oh, I will sing that myself." 



My wife remarked to me a few days ago, "Horace, you have not writ- 

 ten your speech yet." I said, "I know it and I guess I won't write 

 it — I will just tell them off-handed what I know which is not very 

 much." So here goes. 



The first thing that should be considered in peach raising is the man. 

 The most important thing that goes with successful peach raising is 

 the man. The man must love the business. That is all vital. A great 

 many people have come to me and said: "I believe there is money in 

 raising peaches in Michigan and I would like to get in the game, but I 

 don't like peaches, I never did. I hate to work around them, I like 

 to harvest them. I am on a dairy farm and would like to make a 

 little money, and I think I can do so out of peaches." Well, what I 

 have to say to these people is: "In all probability you will make a 

 failure. The man must be enthusiastic. No half-way business will go. 

 There is something about Horticulture and the growing of peaches 

 especially, that requires enthusiasm. If you have plenty of enthusiasm, 

 it seems to enthuse your help and your neighbors and everybody, and 

 things go with a vim. 



Another thing that is needed is self confidence. I don't mean by that 

 egotism or conceit. But still of the two I would rather see a man with 

 a little conceit than to have no confidence in himself. You will make a 

 very poor success if you have no confidence in yourself, but you cannot 

 make anyone else think that you have ability when you are all the time 

 depracting yourself. 



Another vital thing is personal touch. It is possible for some to 

 make a success of raising peaches and live ten or a hundred miles away 

 from the orchard, and go there only occasionally, provided they get 

 the right man. But in my own observation I believe that very close to 

 ninety per cent of those who raise peaches by proxy will make a fail- 

 ure. But I believe that the peach business especially requires you 

 to be "Johnny on the spot," ready for any emergency and pay close at- 

 tention to the details. This detail work is very, very vital in horticul- 

 ture and especially in 1he raising of peaches. 



Then there is the question of location. If a person were going to 

 build a good house, he would want a good location, sightly, well-drained, 

 etc. In planning for the local ion of an orchard we have to take into 

 consideration the land, the nearness to a large body of water — we had 

 a little on that line yesterday — but the all important thing in planting 

 the orchard is to put it on the ground where the orchard will stay. 

 The orchard is not something which you will plant today and in four 

 or five years, pull it up. When I plant a peach orchard I am planting it 



