230 MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



ECONOMICS OF HORTICULTURE. 



PROF'. V. P. IIEDUICK. AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 



The rapid development of fruit growing is one of the marvels of our 

 American industries. Scarcely known a half century ago as an indus- 

 try it has risen to a commanding position in the country at large, and 

 in some States it is the dominant feature of agriculture. The figures 

 of the fruit industry for the last decade are a grand sight. They show 

 that the home consumption of fruit has increased enormouslj^ Exports 

 of fruit have nearly doubled yearly. Imports, except of the banana, 

 have almost ceased. We have home grown oranges, lemons, grape fruits, 

 raisins, prunes, almonds, figs, dates and nuts where formerly all came 

 from across the sea. The carload is the unit in trade now — formerly it 

 was the wagon-load. Instead of peddling the product out in the neigli- 

 boring town, as was done a generation ago, Ave have created markets in 

 distant cities, in non-fruit growing States, and even in other continents, 

 and there is now seemingly no limit to market development. 



To what do we owe this wonderful growth? Is it due to changes in 

 soil or climate? Xo! These are the same as they were fifty years ago. 

 Is it due to improved methods of growing and caring for plants? There 

 has been a decided improvement in plant cultivation in recent years and 

 tillage, pruning, spraying and the advent of many labor-saving imple- 

 ments account for much of our progress, but improved cultivation is 

 'not, valuable as it is, the greatest factor. Is it due to tlie introduction of 

 new types of fruit as the Russian ap]>les, Japanese plums and pears, 

 native plums and grapes, and the fig, the date, the orange, as well as 

 many new varieties of old types? Ncav fruits have certainly had their 

 influence but new types and new varieties, though often ascribed as the 

 chief feature of modern horticnlture, are less important than the grand 

 factor to which T now come; — namely, improved economic conditions. 



I mean by improved economic conditions, established markets and 

 established routes to markets; greater market demands brought about 

 by more people Avho eat fimit; a better regiilation of supply and demand; 

 the discoverv that markets can be created as Avell as found; and a more 

 common knowledjie of the laws of cost and values. We have also mucli 

 improved the means of distributing the product. This has been brought 

 about by rai)id and regular transi>ortation by steam and by electricity 

 on land, and by steam on water; by refrigeration; by shipping through 

 fruit unions; and by aid of the telegra]ib, the telephone and the rural 

 mail whicli bring to the agricultural producer the world's market prices 

 from day to da}'. 



Coming now to the subject of my paper, I ask you to consider with 

 me for a bi-ief time a few of the most important of these economic prob- 

 lems, especially in their relation to the present and to the future. 



By far the most imj)ortant economic problem for the fruit grower is 

 the distribution of the ])roduct. The great underlying difficulty in dis- 

 tributing all products of the soil is speculation. From the time fruit 



