168 State Horticultural Society. 



cover. We think this a very good package for use in the fall during 

 packing season, but not desirable for storing. The bushel box, the third 

 bushel and even the fifth bushel basket should be brought into use. It 

 is not our purpose to call your attention to all the advantages that might 

 come to us in the use of smaller packages, but we desire to mention that a 

 great saving would be made in hauling material of this kind in the knock 

 down from the railroad stations to our orchards and in the making of it 

 up by home help during idle times and bad weather which would forever 

 free us from coopers' strikes. We would not antagonize organized labor 

 nor organized capital. In all this talk about organized labor and orga- 

 nized capital the third man who is identified with neither is usually 

 forgotten. It seems to be assured that the interests of only those en- 

 gaged in what is termed the "war" are of importance, whereas in reality 

 those of the third man in the aggregate far transcend those of both 

 parties to the conflict. This third man, the producer of the country, 

 largely outnimibers all others. There are about 30,000,000 men in this 

 country engaged in what the census bureau calls gainful occupations. 

 Of these 10,500,000 are engaged in agriculture. Not more than 3,000,000 

 belong to labor unions, and of capitalists there are not more than 300,000. 

 All the rest are what is called average men or, as above designated, are 

 third men. The 3,000,000 union men and the 300,000 capitalists form 

 the upper and nether mill stones between which all the rest of the 30,- 

 000,000 engaged in gainful occupations and all the rest of the nearly 

 eightly millions of people in the country are ground. 



We are not impugning the motives of either labor or capital, but 

 we realize that all increases in expenses, either in wages -or operating ex- 

 penses, of those who manufacture our raw material, or those who haul 

 our products to the market, are paid by the producer either by the 

 lowering of the price of the product, or by raising the freight rate on 

 the same. We have a right, as the large majority party, to say we are 

 getting tired of paying the fiddler and getting no revenue from the show. 

 On this point some one may remark what are you going to do about it? 

 I would simply say if we must continue to contribute all the profits of 

 production to the manager of the show and they are not willing to meet 

 us half way, that w^e take a lay off for a year and only produce what 

 we need to live on from the orchard and farm cutting off the surplus 

 tonage for one party to haul and manufacture and for the other party 

 to eat and wear. While this would be ah awful thing to do and would 

 be very foolish unless forced to do for self-protection, yet it is more 

 sensible than lots of things we are paying dearly for. While this may 

 seem a diversion in the discussion of this subject, yet the conditions 



