56 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Mcintosh, Griuies Golden, and after they have borne a few years, and 

 have formed the fiiiit-bearing habit, tlien you can prnne them more and 

 not detract from the bearing" habit. I would not sacrifice the symmetry 

 of a tree, for the first few crops do not amount to very much anyway. 

 I think we have been pruning our trees too much in many instances. 

 Fifteen years ago, before my apple orchards were bearing much, I used to 

 buy fruit in the neighborliood— in one year I bought and packed the 

 product from 110 orchards, and got considerable experience in handling 

 the fruit, and one thing that struck me was, that the fiaiit was cheap, 

 I was paying a dollar a barrel, but when the grocerymeh came to dispose 

 of it to their customers, it was at a vei-y material advance over what I 

 paid for it, but on investigation I found that no one made any very big 

 profit. So I set about devising a scheme to cut out some of this unneces- 

 sary cost. The result was that when my own orchards came into bearing, 

 I built a cold-storage of my own. I am so situated that we have good 

 market facilities. If you have good trans])ortation facilities, a few miles 

 more or less do not make much ditference. And having different variet- 

 ies, Grimes Golden, Kambo, Sutton Beauty, that class of apples, I did not 

 have to "work up" a trade — like Topsy, it growed. 



A basket of these api)les shipped to a friend, and their neighbors 

 want some like them, and the consequence is, your product is soon easily 

 disposed of. The first time I introduced them into a ])lace I just took a 

 sample of them to the grocers, explained our methods, and sent them 

 ]>acked in 20-lb. baskets, covered, and consigned them by electric car 

 on order, and there was no difficulty in getting an order for supplying 

 them'. 



The next thing is your price. Set your own price, and then let the 

 grocer add to that to get his profit, and that will make the selling price. 

 You see aniuch better price can be secured by myself, and not have them 

 exorbitant in price, and then you are master of the situation — you dic- 

 tate the price. 



I advise a cold storage plant where it is possible. No one who has 

 not had one can ajijireciate the joy of it. We have one on our place, and 

 we find it a great help as well as very profitable. We go over our trees, 

 such varieties as Greenings, Grimes Golden- we ])ick at once, but the 

 Spies and Rome Beauty, we do not pick at all until they have the color, 

 and go over tlie trees several times. Everything is put in storage in 

 bushel crates. They are hauled right in, and if the weather is warm, 

 the apples are left to stand in the shade until the next morning early, 

 when they are cold, they are placed in storage while the temperature- 

 outside is such nfj not to raise the temperature in the house. We sort 

 them just as ordc/r^d, and that gives us a little less work at picking tinifv 

 and provides soMietliluj>; to do when other work is not so plenty in winter. 

 We find this a very satisfactory way of handling our fruit. 



DISCUSSION. 



A Member — How late in the fall would you advise planting apple 



trees ? 



Mr. Farnsworth — We have irlanted trees any time clear up to the win- 

 ter, till it freezes up, though it would be better a little earlier. 



A Member— Do you think that banking up the trees will prevent 

 freezing? 



