116 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



HOW SHALL WE MAINTAIN THE PRICE OF MAINE APPLES? 



By Charles S. Pope, Manchester. 



Is there any profit in orcharding? This question which we have 

 heard so many times of late, has set some of us to thinking that 

 it is time to change our methods, or we must give up the raising of 

 apples altogether. Many orchardists in this section the past year 

 did not receive enough to pa}' the expense of handling. Others sold 

 for a good profit. Now why should there be this difference? I 

 have just visited one of the largest orchardists in Kennebec county^ 

 to learn, if possible, how he obtained $2.25 for his Baldwins when 

 the buyers were paying $1-00 only. From what I could learn the 

 great secret was perfect sorting and careful packing, and then ship- 

 ping direct to England. 



Apples from Maine have been in good reputp in England, and the 

 price, generally higher than for apples from any other section, but 

 the returns last year must have been anything but satisfactor}' to 

 most of the shippers. When the price is low the fruit grower will 

 be very careless in handling his fi uit, both when picking and pack- 

 ing, and the majority think the more poor apples they can crowd 

 into the middle of a barrel and have it accepted by the buyers the 

 better. The buyers in our section are very careless and will take 

 almost anything if it can be purchased low enough. They will put 

 a few good apples at the top and mark it with a string of X's, and 

 sometimes are fortunate enough to get a little profit on such a lot. 

 Very few of them did last year. This ruinous policy must be stopped 

 if we expect to keep up the reputation of Maine apples. 



With the present methods of selling, what inducement is there for 

 an orchardist to pack his apples in good shape? Unless he is an 

 extensive grower, his apples are lost, comparatively' speaking, in 

 the thousands that are shipped, and he gets small returns for his 

 pains. From the appearance of apples, as they are opened in the 

 auction rooms in Liverpool, it would seem that the science of pack- 

 ing apples correctly- is understood by very few of our people. It is 

 surprising what an immense amount is lost by poor packing, causing 

 what they call "slack" and "wet" and the question is, how shall we 

 remedy this and obtain a fair price for our fiuit? 



Many of our large orchardists, by careful sorting and packing, 

 have obtained a reputation in our local markets, and the name of 



