STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 45 



of any fruit depends very much on its appearance to the eye. 

 Pick your fruit honestly in a nice clean box or basket, and don't 

 forget to put some large berries in the bottom ; the people will 

 iind them and give you lots of credit. Always insist on a fair 

 price and back it up by a comparison of value and you will have 

 no trouble in getting and holding your customers. Be firm and 

 courteous under all circumstances ; don't get angry if they do. 

 A neat personal appearance is a good stock in trade. Wear a 

 ^ood business suit and keep your shoes blacked and be in condi- 

 tion to approach the wealthy family and make a good impression 

 and never offer customers berries in an old dirty basket. Keep 

 your horse and wagon as neat and attractive as possible. Fruit 

 is or will be what we make it, and thus more than a slight differ- 

 ence in soil. Make pets of your plants and trees with generous 

 and reasonable care born of a wish to succeed. Love your busi- 

 ness, make your own recod as a fruit grower. 



In using berry crates I used to buy old second hand crates at 

 the markets and pay ten cents each for good, bad, indifferent and 

 I had to put out from ten to thirty minutes in labor for repairs 

 and to clean them up for business, and then they were old crates, 

 dirty and poor. I got sick of these, and I have adopted a gift 

 crate that costs very much less ; they hold twenty-four quarts and 

 twenty-four pints. The twenty-four quart crates I use in ship- 

 ping strawberries, currants and gooseberries ; the twenty-four 

 pint are used in shipping raspberries ; they are very neat and 

 attractive and the fruit sells very much better when they reach 

 the market, the fruit is all there in good condition free from dust 

 or dirt. The question now will be where to find such a market 

 as will best maintain prices, with this comes.the problem of trans- 

 portation which must be taken into account. The individual 

 ■shipper is at the mercy of the railroad and express companies 

 who without fear, favor, or affection for ten or twelve hours 

 transit take not less then twenty cases out of one hundred of 

 berries for their portion, while the commission man takes ten 

 more. You can see what is left for you to pay for packages, 

 picking and cultivation. The fruit grower has no subsidy to 

 relieve him in protection from the extortionate freight charges. 

 Can the fruit growers of Maine combine in their shipment to 

 secure lower rates ? I think they can if they ill would combine 

 together. 



