170 



pie provision for inspection. If the producers are not ready, 

 and public sentiment is not active, then surely the initial 

 measures should be attempted. It would be a serious injury 

 to our fruit interests to secure the passage of a law to be 

 repudiated later at the polls, or repealed at the next session 

 of legislature, simply because producers and the public are 

 not ready to support and defend. 



The absolute necessity for a law giving the state control 

 over all fruit shipped is one of the certainties of the present, 

 and the friend of the orchard will stand to protect as well 

 as legislate, realizing alike the danger of delay as well as of 

 ill advised action. Because New England interests are so 

 closely interwoven, because the apple industry is to be the 

 great cash crop on the farms in the hill sections, because all 

 about us are the verj^ best home markets, because the con- 

 sumer is entitled to just what he purchases and the producer 

 to the best possible price for what he sells, I stand here to- 

 day to urge the union of these six New England states for 

 such legislation as will best protect grower and consumer, 

 and permanently stimulate the apple growing industry in 

 every section. Not until the New England grown apple, 

 with its superior flavor and food value, finds its place upon 

 every counter and in every home, and supplants the inferior 

 product from other sections, will the actual worth of an or- 

 chard be realized in any community. There's a l)ig, big 

 problem facing this and every other live organization. It 

 is to help protect the industry through wise legislation, 

 arouse producers to the importance of community rather 

 than individual efforts, aid in eliminating unnecessary fac- 

 tors standing between producer and consumer, assist in 

 equalizing transportation rates on all farm products, stimu- 

 late the largest possible development of the home market, 

 and bring about a closer union of the New England farmers. 



In no other way can an association serve the growing 

 necessities of a burdened industry. The record of 1914 is 

 closed and valuable only for reference. It is the new year 

 with its broadening activities, its increasing obligations, 



